diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -104,8 +104,12 @@ test_requirements = _get_requirements(
 
 
 def get_version():
-    version = pkgutil.get_data('rhodecode', 'VERSION')
-    return version.decode().strip()
+    here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+    ver_file = os.path.join(here, "rhodecode", "VERSION")
+    with open(ver_file, "rt") as f:
+        version = f.read().strip()
+
+    return version
 
 
 # additional files that goes into package itself