diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index d416ed4..289174f 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-include LICENSE README.rst
+include LICENSE README.rst VERSION
 recursive-include pinject *.py
 recursive-exclude pinject *_test.py
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b9e8326..df6b3e2 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -14,11 +14,14 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-
+import os
 from setuptools import setup
-from pinject import (
-    __version__,
-)
+
+# Extra __version__ from VERSION instead of pinject.version so pip doen't
+# import __init__.py and bump into dependencies that haven't been installed
+# yet.
+with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "VERSION")) as VERSION:
+    __version__ = VERSION.read().strip()
 
 setup(name='pinject',
       version=__version__,