diff --git a/alot/__init__.py b/alot/__init__.py
index 942b28aa2..6540541e6 100644
--- a/alot/__init__.py
+++ b/alot/__init__.py
@@ -1,8 +1,17 @@
+from importlib.metadata import version, PackageNotFoundError
+
+# this requires python >=3.8
+try:
+    __version__ = version("alot")
+except PackageNotFoundError:
+    # package is not installed
+    pass
+
+
 __productname__ = 'alot'
-__version__ = '0.10'
-__copyright__ = "Copyright (C) 2012-21 Patrick Totzke"
-__author__ = "Patrick Totzke"
-__author_email__ = "patricktotzke@gmail.com"
+# -__copyright__ = "Copyright (C) 2012-21 Patrick Totzke"
+# __author__ = "Patrick Totzke"
+# __author_email__ = "patricktotzke@gmail.com"
 __description__ = "Terminal MUA using notmuch mail"
-__url__ = "https://github.com/pazz/alot"
-__license__ = "Licensed under the GNU GPL v3+."
+# __url__ = "https://github.com/pazz/alot"
+# __license__ = "Licensed under the GNU GPL v3+."
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 98761a23d..35ab9ed77 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # alot documentation build configuration file
 import pathlib
 import tomllib
+import importlib.metadata
 
 pyproject = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent / "pyproject.toml"
 with pyproject.open("rb") as f:
@@ -54,9 +55,9 @@
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = project_data["version"]
+version = importlib.metadata.version("alot")
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = project_data["version"]
+release = importlib.metadata.version("alot")
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 66e16d22f..64b8ecdd1 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
         packages = {
           alot = pkgs.python3Packages.buildPythonApplication {
             name = "alot";
-            version = pyproject.project.version + "-post";
+            version = "0.dev+${if self ? shortRev then self.shortRev else "dirty"}";
             src = self;
             pyproject = true;
             outputs = [
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8149e1141..ac26a7b2a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "alot"
-version = "0.10"
 description = "Terminal MUA using notmuch mail"
 authors = [
     {name="Patrick Totzke", email="patricktotzke@gmail.com"}
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ maintainers = [
     {name="Lucas Hoffmann", email="lucc@posteo.de"},
 ]
 readme = "README.md"
+dynamic = ["version"]
 requires-python = ">=3.8"
 license = { text = "GPL-3.0-or-later" }
 classifiers = [
@@ -49,3 +49,5 @@ Issues = "https://github.com/pazz/alot/issues"
 
 [tool.setuptools.packages.find]
 include = ["alot*"]
+
+[tool.setuptools_scm]
diff --git a/readthedocs.yaml b/readthedocs.yaml
index bed40597b..aa7ba064d 100644
--- a/readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/readthedocs.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,22 @@ build:
   os: ubuntu-22.04
   tools:
     python: "3.12"
+  apt_packages:
+    - libmagic1 # for python-magic
+  jobs:
+    # remove and mock problematic dependencies
+    pre_install:
+      - sed -i -e /gpg/d -e /notmuch2/d pyproject.toml
+      - touch gpg.py
+      - echo NullPointerError = NotmuchError = None > notmuch2.py
+    # make the git state clean again for setuptools_scm
+    post_install:
+      - git checkout pyproject.toml
 
+# Install alot itself before building the docs
+python:
+  install:
+    - path: .
 # Build documentation in the "docs/" directory with Sphinx
 sphinx:
   configuration: docs/source/conf.py