diff --git a/.editorconfig b/.editorconfig
index 5dfd8f5..58692bf 100644
--- a/.editorconfig
+++ b/.editorconfig
@@ -29,9 +29,6 @@ indent_size = 2
 trim_trailing_whitespace = false
 insert_final_newline = false
 
-[/version.txt]
-insert_final_newline = false
-
 [/src/content/themes/*/index.php]
 indent_style = space
 indent_size = 2
diff --git a/buildzip.php b/buildzip.php
index 59b4713..ba84917 100755
--- a/buildzip.php
+++ b/buildzip.php
@@ -31,12 +31,9 @@ if (!is_dir($dir)) {
 print "> Repository was cloned to temp dir: $dir\n";
 
 #get current version number if not specified
-if (!$ver)
-{
-    chdir($dir);
-    $fh = fopen('version.txt', 'r') or die("Cant open version.txt\n");
-    $ver = trim(fgets($fh, 100));
-    fclose($fh);
+if (!$ver) {
+    require_once(__DIR__ . '/src/includes/version.php');
+    $ver = mytinytodo\Version::VERSION;
 }
 chdir($dir. DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR. 'src');
 $rev = trim(`git show --format=format:%H --summary`);
@@ -52,10 +49,6 @@ fwrite($fh, "\n<!-- $rev -->");
 fclose($fh);
 */
 
-#replace @VERSION
-replaceVer('./setup.php', $ver);
-replaceVer('./init.php', $ver);
-
 unlink('./docker-config.php');
 unlink('./content/lang/en-rtl.json');
 /*
@@ -111,10 +104,3 @@ function deleteTreeIfDir($dir)
         }
     }
 }
-
-function replaceVer($filename, $ver)
-{
-    $s = @file_get_contents($filename) or die("Cant open $filename\n");
-    $s = str_replace('@VERSION', $ver, $s);
-    @file_put_contents($filename, $s) or die("Cant write $filename\n");
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/includes/version.php b/src/includes/version.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e35581c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/includes/version.php
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace mytinytodo;
+
+class Version
+{
+    const VERSION = '1.7';
+}
diff --git a/src/init.php b/src/init.php
index 3d20ecf..9af0137 100644
--- a/src/init.php
+++ b/src/init.php
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
     Licensed under the GNU GPL version 2 or any later. See file COPYRIGHT for details.
 */
 
-define('MTT_VERSION', '@VERSION');
-
 ##### MyTinyTodo requires php 7.0 and above! #####
 if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '7.0.0') < 0) {
     die("PHP 7.0+ is required");
@@ -35,6 +33,7 @@ require_once(MTTINC. 'common.php');
 require_once(MTTINC. 'class.dbconnection.php');
 require_once(MTTINC. 'class.dbcore.php');
 require_once(MTTINC. 'class.config.php');
+require_once(MTTINC. 'version.php');
 
 
 # MySQL Database Connection
@@ -256,11 +255,8 @@ function get_unsafe_mttinfo($v)
             $_mttinfo['title'] = (Config::get('title') != '') ? Config::get('title') : __('My Tiny Todolist');
             return $_mttinfo['title'];
         case 'version':
-            if (MTT_VERSION != '@'.'VERSION') {
-                $_mttinfo['version'] = MTT_VERSION;
-                return $_mttinfo['version'];
-            }
-            return time(); //force no-cache for dev needs
+            if (MTT_DEBUG) return time(); //force no-cache for dev needs
+            return mytinytodo\Version::VERSION;
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/setup.php b/src/setup.php
index f461544..e86ac09 100644
--- a/src/setup.php
+++ b/src/setup.php
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ if (!defined('MTTINC'))  define('MTTINC', MTTPATH. 'includes/');
 require_once(MTTINC. 'common.php');
 require_once(MTTINC. 'class.dbconnection.php');
 require_once(MTTINC. 'class.config.php');
+require_once(MTTINC. 'version.php');
 
+$mttVersion = mytinytodo\Version::VERSION;
 $db = null;
 $ver = '';
 $error = '';
@@ -30,8 +32,8 @@ $configExists = file_exists(MTTPATH. 'config.php');
 $oldConfigExists = file_exists(MTTPATH. 'db/config.php');
 
 
-echo '<html><head><meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow"><title>myTinyTodo @VERSION Setup</title></head><body>';
-echo "<big><b>myTinyTodo @VERSION Setup</b></big><br><br>";
+echo '<html><head><meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow"><title>myTinyTodo $mttVersion Setup</title></head><body>';
+echo "<big><b>myTinyTodo $mttVersion Setup</b></big><br><br>";
 
 if (!$configExists && $oldConfigExists)
 {
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 7c483e8..0000000
--- a/version.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-1.7
\ No newline at end of file
