diff --git a/imagekit/__init__.py b/imagekit/__init__.py
index f4fd227..74808d3 100644
--- a/imagekit/__init__.py
+++ b/imagekit/__init__.py
@@ -1,38 +1,3 @@
 from . import conf
 from .specs import ImageSpec
-
-
-__title__ = 'django-imagekit'
-__author__ = 'Justin Driscoll, Bryan Veloso, Greg Newman, Chris Drackett, Matthew Tretter, Eric Eldredge'
-__version__ = (2, 0, 1, 'final', 0)
-__license__ = 'BSD'
-
-
-def get_version(version=None):
-    """Derives a PEP386-compliant version number from VERSION."""
-    if version is None:
-        version = __version__
-    assert len(version) == 5
-    assert version[3] in ('alpha', 'beta', 'rc', 'final')
-
-    # Now build the two parts of the version number:
-    # main = X.Y[.Z]
-    # sub = .devN - for pre-alpha releases
-    #     | {a|b|c}N - for alpha, beta and rc releases
-
-    parts = 2 if version[2] == 0 else 3
-    main = '.'.join(str(x) for x in version[:parts])
-
-    sub = ''
-    if version[3] == 'alpha' and version[4] == 0:
-        # At the toplevel, this would cause an import loop.
-        from django.utils.version import get_svn_revision
-        svn_revision = get_svn_revision()[4:]
-        if svn_revision != 'unknown':
-            sub = '.dev%s' % svn_revision
-
-    elif version[3] != 'final':
-        mapping = {'alpha': 'a', 'beta': 'b', 'rc': 'c'}
-        sub = mapping[version[3]] + str(version[4])
-
-    return main + sub
+from .pkgmeta import *
diff --git a/imagekit/pkgmeta.py b/imagekit/pkgmeta.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20e62db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imagekit/pkgmeta.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+__title__ = 'django-imagekit'
+__author__ = 'Justin Driscoll, Bryan Veloso, Greg Newman, Chris Drackett, Matthew Tretter, Eric Eldredge'
+__version__ = '3.0a1'
+__license__ = 'BSD'
+__all__ = ['__title__', '__author__', '__version__', '__license__']
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9764b06..985e103 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -11,12 +11,14 @@ if 'publish' in sys.argv:
 
 read = lambda filepath: codecs.open(filepath, 'r', 'utf-8').read()
 
-# Dynamically calculate the version based on imagekit.VERSION.
-version = __import__('imagekit').get_version()
+# Load package meta from the pkgmeta module without loading imagekit.
+pkgmeta = {}
+execfile(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
+         'imagekit', 'pkgmeta.py'), pkgmeta)
 
 setup(
     name='django-imagekit',
-    version=version,
+    version=pkgmeta['__version__'],
     description='Automated image processing for Django models.',
     long_description=read(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'README.rst')),
     author='Justin Driscoll',