diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c67a19737..103b440a0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,4 +6,3 @@ installer/src/certs/server.key
 # vim swap files
 *.swp
 
-
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2749f139c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# release version. do not edit manually
diff --git a/scripts/cloudron-setup b/scripts/cloudron-setup
index 308189bf7..c507d10d8 100755
--- a/scripts/cloudron-setup
+++ b/scripts/cloudron-setup
@@ -173,8 +173,7 @@ data=$(cat <<EOF
     "provider": "${provider}",
     "edition": "${edition}",
     "apiServerOrigin": "${apiServerOrigin}",
-    "webServerOrigin": "${webServerOrigin}",
-    "version": "${version}"
+    "webServerOrigin": "${webServerOrigin}"
 }
 EOF
 )
@@ -200,7 +199,6 @@ echo "=> Installing version ${version} (this takes some time) ..."
 mkdir -p /etc/cloudron
 cat > "/etc/cloudron/cloudron.conf" <<CONF_END
 {
-    "version": "${version}",
     "apiServerOrigin": "${apiServerOrigin}",
     "webServerOrigin": "${webServerOrigin}",
     "provider": "${provider}",
diff --git a/scripts/createReleaseTarball b/scripts/createReleaseTarball
index 316571a01..f46a9e3f0 100755
--- a/scripts/createReleaseTarball
+++ b/scripts/createReleaseTarball
@@ -7,21 +7,28 @@ set -eu
 [[ $(uname -s) == "Darwin" ]] && GNU_GETOPT="/usr/local/opt/gnu-getopt/bin/getopt" || GNU_GETOPT="getopt"
 readonly GNU_GETOPT
 
-args=$(${GNU_GETOPT} -o "" -l "output:" -n "$0" -- "$@")
+args=$(${GNU_GETOPT} -o "" -l "output:,version:" -n "$0" -- "$@")
 eval set -- "${args}"
 
 readonly SOURCE_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 
 bundle_file=""
+version=""
 
 while true; do
     case "$1" in
     --output) bundle_file="$2"; shift 2;;
+    --version) version="$2"; shift 2;;
     --) break;;
     *) echo "Unknown option $1"; exit 1;;
     esac
 done
 
+if [[ -z "${version}" ]]; then
+    echo "--version is required"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 readonly TMPDIR=${TMPDIR:-/tmp} # why is this not set on mint?
 
 if ! $(cd "${SOURCE_DIR}" && git diff --exit-code >/dev/null); then
@@ -50,6 +57,7 @@ echo "==> Checking out code box version [${box_version}] and dashboard version [
 (cd "${SOURCE_DIR}" && git archive --format=tar ${box_version} | (cd "${bundle_dir}" && tar xf -))
 (cd "${SOURCE_DIR}/../dashboard" && git archive --format=tar ${dashboard_version} | (mkdir -p "${bundle_dir}/dashboard.build" && cd "${bundle_dir}/dashboard.build" && tar xf -))
 (cp "${SOURCE_DIR}/../dashboard/LICENSE" "${bundle_dir}")
+echo "${version}" > "${bundle_dir}/VERSION"
 
 echo "==> Installing modules for dashboard asset generation"
 (cd "${bundle_dir}/dashboard.build" && npm install --production)
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index d53f2eaf3..8cee8e53a 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     isAdminDomainLocked: isAdminDomainLocked,
 
     // for testing resets to defaults
-    _setVersion: setVersion,
     _reset: _reset
 };
 
@@ -211,11 +210,7 @@ function sysadminOrigin() {
 }
 
 function version() {
-    return get('version');
-}
-
-function setVersion(version) {
-    set('version', version);
+    return fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '../VERSION'), 'utf8').trim();
 }
 
 function database() {
diff --git a/src/routes/test/caas-test.js b/src/routes/test/caas-test.js
index 2789adde0..a548ee035 100644
--- a/src/routes/test/caas-test.js
+++ b/src/routes/test/caas-test.js
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ function setup(done) {
     nock.cleanAll();
     config._reset();
     config.set('provider', 'caas');
-    config._setVersion('1.2.3');
 
     async.series([
         server.start.bind(server),
diff --git a/src/routes/test/server-test.js b/src/routes/test/server-test.js
index 7e9289ec1..bd2f95292 100644
--- a/src/routes/test/server-test.js
+++ b/src/routes/test/server-test.js
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ var token = null;
 
 function setup(done) {
     config._reset();
-    config._setVersion('1.2.3');
 
     async.series([
         server.start,
diff --git a/src/routes/test/sysadmin-test.js b/src/routes/test/sysadmin-test.js
index 4215e3520..eb986f77c 100644
--- a/src/routes/test/sysadmin-test.js
+++ b/src/routes/test/sysadmin-test.js
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ const DOMAIN_0 = {
 function setup(done) {
     config._reset();
     config.setFqdn(DOMAIN_0.domain);
-    config._setVersion('1.2.3');
 
     async.series([
         server.start,
diff --git a/src/test/config-test.js b/src/test/config-test.js
index dfaaf2492..69f7f0bcd 100644
--- a/src/test/config-test.js
+++ b/src/test/config-test.js
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ describe('config', function () {
         done();
     });
 
-    it('can get and set version', function (done) {
-        config._setVersion('1.2.3');
-        expect(config.version()).to.be('1.2.3');
+    it('can get version', function (done) {
+        expect(config.version()).to.be.ok(); // this gets a dummy text string
+        expect(config.version().includes('\n')).to.not.be.ok();
         done();
     });
 
diff --git a/src/updater.js b/src/updater.js
index 882760c1c..80cacadc7 100644
--- a/src/updater.js
+++ b/src/updater.js
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ var assert = require('assert'),
     paths = require('./paths.js'),
     progress = require('./progress.js'),
     safe = require('safetydance'),
-    semver = require('semver'),
     shell = require('./shell.js'),
     updateChecker = require('./updatechecker.js'),
     util = require('util'),