diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index f59e059d9..0f86c07cf 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 import sys
 import os
-import re
 
 try:
     from sphinx import version_info as _sphinx_version_info
@@ -64,13 +63,11 @@
 
 # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
 # |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
-# built documents.
-#
-from nutils import version as nutils_version
-# The short X.Y version.
-version = re.search('^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+', nutils_version).group(0)
-# The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = nutils_version
+# built documents: 'version' refers to the short X.Y version, whereas 'release'
+# refers to the full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags. For Nutils we set
+# both to the same value.
+from nutils import version
+release = version
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.