diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7fec54e0..7c361126 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@ set(qjs_sources
 
 list(APPEND qjs_defines _GNU_SOURCE)
 
-file(STRINGS "VERSION" QJS_VERSION_STR)
-list(APPEND qjs_defines CONFIG_VERSION="${QJS_VERSION_STR}")
-
 add_library(qjs STATIC ${qjs_sources})
 target_compile_definitions(qjs PUBLIC
     QJS_VERSION_STR="${QJS_VERSION_STR}"
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c2673a5c..64ebb277 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ STRIP=$(CROSS_PREFIX)strip
 ifdef CONFIG_WERROR
 CFLAGS+=-Werror
 endif
-DEFINES:=-D_GNU_SOURCE -DCONFIG_VERSION=\"$(shell cat VERSION)\"
+DEFINES:=-D_GNU_SOURCE
 ifdef CONFIG_WIN32
 DEFINES+=-D__USE_MINGW_ANSI_STDIO # for standard snprintf behavior
 endif
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index 22ffec18..00000000
--- a/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-2021-03-27
diff --git a/qjs.c b/qjs.c
index ee6f8b58..66ff4c66 100644
--- a/qjs.c
+++ b/qjs.c
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ static const JSMallocFunctions trace_mf = {
 
 void help(void)
 {
-    printf("QuickJS version " CONFIG_VERSION "\n"
+    printf("QuickJS version %s\n"
            "usage: " PROG_NAME " [options] [file [args]]\n"
            "-h  --help         list options\n"
            "-e  --eval EXPR    evaluate EXPR\n"
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ void help(void)
            "    --memory-limit n       limit the memory usage to 'n' bytes\n"
            "    --stack-size n         limit the stack size to 'n' bytes\n"
            "    --unhandled-rejection  dump unhandled promise rejections\n"
-           "-q  --quit         just instantiate the interpreter and quit\n");
+           "-q  --quit         just instantiate the interpreter and quit\n", JS_GetVersion());
     exit(1);
 }
 
diff --git a/qjsc.c b/qjsc.c
index 381c8edc..19cbc2be 100644
--- a/qjsc.c
+++ b/qjsc.c
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ static const char main_c_template2[] =
 
 void help(void)
 {
-    printf("QuickJS Compiler version " CONFIG_VERSION "\n"
+    printf("QuickJS Compiler version %s\n"
            "usage: " PROG_NAME " [options] [files]\n"
            "\n"
            "options are:\n"
@@ -353,6 +353,7 @@ void help(void)
            "-x          byte swapped output\n"
            "-p prefix   set the prefix of the generated C names\n"
            "-S n        set the maximum stack size to 'n' bytes (default=%d)\n",
+           JS_GetVersion(),
            JS_DEFAULT_STACK_SIZE);
 #ifdef CONFIG_LTO
     {
diff --git a/quickjs.c b/quickjs.c
index da7f60ab..88eff066 100644
--- a/quickjs.c
+++ b/quickjs.c
@@ -107,6 +107,19 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #endif
 
+#define STRINGIFY_(x) #x
+#define STRINGIFY(x)  STRINGIFY_(x)
+
+#define QJS_VERSION_STRING \
+    STRINGIFY(QJS_VERSION_MAJOR) "." STRINGIFY(QJS_VERSION_MINOR) "." STRINGIFY(QJS_VERSION_PATCH) QJS_VERSION_SUFFIX
+
+const char* JS_GetVersion(void) {
+    return QJS_VERSION_STRING;
+}
+
+#undef STRINFIGY_
+#undef STRINGIFY
+
 enum {
     /* classid tag        */    /* union usage   | properties */
     JS_CLASS_OBJECT = 1,        /* must be first */
@@ -5920,9 +5933,8 @@ void JS_ComputeMemoryUsage(JSRuntime *rt, JSMemoryUsage *s)
 
 void JS_DumpMemoryUsage(FILE *fp, const JSMemoryUsage *s, JSRuntime *rt)
 {
-    fprintf(fp, "QuickJS memory usage -- "
-            CONFIG_VERSION " version, %d-bit, malloc limit: %"PRId64"\n\n",
-            (int)sizeof(void *) * 8, (int64_t)(ssize_t)s->malloc_limit);
+    fprintf(fp, "QuickJS memory usage -- %s version, %d-bit, malloc limit: %"PRId64"\n\n",
+        JS_GetVersion(), (int)sizeof(void *) * 8, (int64_t)(ssize_t)s->malloc_limit);
 #if 1
     if (rt) {
         static const struct {
diff --git a/quickjs.h b/quickjs.h
index 1617f8b9..86f2f958 100644
--- a/quickjs.h
+++ b/quickjs.h
@@ -1009,6 +1009,16 @@ typedef enum JSPromiseStateEnum {
 JSPromiseStateEnum JS_PromiseState(JSContext *ctx, JSValue promise);
 JSValue JS_PromiseResult(JSContext *ctx, JSValue promise);
 
+/* Version */
+
+#define QJS_VERSION_MAJOR 0
+#define QJS_VERSION_MINOR 1
+#define QJS_VERSION_PATCH 0
+#define QJS_VERSION_SUFFIX ""
+
+const char* JS_GetVersion(void);
+
+
 #undef js_unlikely
 #undef js_force_inline
 
diff --git a/run-test262.c b/run-test262.c
index 40613763..cbac5945 100644
--- a/run-test262.c
+++ b/run-test262.c
@@ -1945,7 +1945,7 @@ void run_test_dir_list(namelist_t *lp, int start_index, int stop_index)
 
 void help(void)
 {
-    printf("run-test262 version " CONFIG_VERSION "\n"
+    printf("run-test262 version %s\n"
            "usage: run-test262 [options] {-f file ... | [dir_list] [index range]}\n"
            "-h             help\n"
            "-a             run tests in strict and nostrict modes\n"
@@ -1962,7 +1962,8 @@ void help(void)
            "-e file        load the known errors from 'file'\n"
            "-f file        execute single test from 'file'\n"
            "-r file        set the report file name (default=none)\n"
-           "-x file        exclude tests listed in 'file'\n");
+           "-x file        exclude tests listed in 'file'\n",
+           JS_GetVersion());
     exit(1);
 }