diff --git a/openevolve/__init__.py b/openevolve/__init__.py
index ea71aa841..c9911ce1a 100644
--- a/openevolve/__init__.py
+++ b/openevolve/__init__.py
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 OpenEvolve: An open-source implementation of AlphaEvolve
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.0.16"
-
+from openevolve._version import __version__
 from openevolve.controller import OpenEvolve
 
-__all__ = ["OpenEvolve"]
+__all__ = ["OpenEvolve", "__version__"]
diff --git a/openevolve/_version.py b/openevolve/_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..40e7f4cfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openevolve/_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""Version information for openevolve package."""
+
+__version__ = "0.0.17"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index dd7b462c9..6d9a83ed4 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -48,4 +48,4 @@ disallow_incomplete_defs = true
 openevolve-run = "openevolve.cli:main"
 
 [tool.setuptools.dynamic]
-version = {attr = "openevolve.__version__"}
+version = {attr = "openevolve._version.__version__"}
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index bef91f9d1..e3b99e3e1 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
-from openevolve import __version__
+import os
+import sys
+
+# Add the package directory to sys.path to import version
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'openevolve'))
+from _version import __version__
 
 setup(
     name="openevolve",