diff --git a/.git_archival.txt b/.git_archival.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95cb3ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.git_archival.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ref-names: $Format:%D$
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00a7b00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+.git_archival.txt  export-subst
diff --git a/Ska/quatutil/quatutil.py b/Ska/quatutil/quatutil.py
index b3bac62..cb41682 100644
--- a/Ska/quatutil/quatutil.py
+++ b/Ska/quatutil/quatutil.py
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 from numpy import sin, cos, tan, arctan2, radians, degrees, sqrt
 from Quaternion import Quat
 
+import ska_helpers
+
+__version__ = ska_helpers.get_version(__package__)
+
 
 def radec2eci(ra, dec):
     """
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a67507f..6f02f54 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 # Licensed under a 3-clause BSD style license - see LICENSE.rst
 from setuptools import setup
 
-from Ska.quatutil import __version__
-
 try:
     from testr.setup_helper import cmdclass
 except ImportError:
@@ -13,7 +11,8 @@
       description='ACA quaternion utilities',
       author_email='taldcroft@cfa.harvard.edu',
       url='http://cxc.harvard.edu/mta/ASPECT/tool_doc/pydocs/Ska.quatutil.html',
-      version=__version__,
+      use_scm_version=True,
+      setup_requires=['setuptools_scm', 'setuptools_scm_git_archive'],
       zip_safe=False,
       packages=['Ska', 'Ska.quatutil', 'Ska.quatutil.tests'],
       tests_require=['pytest'],