diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index b8ff46164..5e6432667 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ if not on_rtd:  # only import and set the theme if we're building docs locally
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('..'))
 
 # Get Wagtail version
-from wagtail.wagtailcore import __version__
+from wagtail import __version__
 
 # Autodoc may need to import some models modules which require django settings
 # be configured
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ee86409bb..a70d1d5b5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import sys, os
 
-from wagtail.wagtailcore import __version__
+from wagtail import __version__
 
 
 try:
diff --git a/wagtail/__init__.py b/wagtail/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..b3b462a9f 100644
--- a/wagtail/__init__.py
+++ b/wagtail/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from wagtail.utils.version import get_version
+
+VERSION = (0, 9, 0, 'alpha', 0)
+__version__ = get_version(VERSION)
diff --git a/wagtail/utils/version.py b/wagtail/utils/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3991332e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wagtail/utils/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+# https://raw.githubusercontent.com/django/django/master/django/utils/version.py
+# This was copied into Wagtail so the get_git_changeset will use a file located in Wagtail instead of Django
+
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import datetime
+import os
+import subprocess
+
+from django.utils.lru_cache import lru_cache
+
+
+def get_version(version=None):
+    "Returns a PEP 386-compliant version number from VERSION."
+    version = get_complete_version(version)
+
+    # Now build the two parts of the version number:
+    # major = X.Y[.Z]
+    # sub = .devN - for pre-alpha releases
+    #     | {a|b|c}N - for alpha, beta and rc releases
+
+    major = get_major_version(version)
+
+    sub = ''
+    if version[3] == 'alpha' and version[4] == 0:
+        git_changeset = get_git_changeset()
+        if git_changeset:
+            sub = '.dev%s' % git_changeset
+
+    elif version[3] != 'final':
+        mapping = {'alpha': 'a', 'beta': 'b', 'rc': 'c'}
+        sub = mapping[version[3]] + str(version[4])
+
+    return str(major + sub)
+
+
+def get_major_version(version=None):
+    "Returns major version from VERSION."
+    version = get_complete_version(version)
+    parts = 2 if version[2] == 0 else 3
+    major = '.'.join(str(x) for x in version[:parts])
+    return major
+
+
+def get_complete_version(version=None):
+    """Returns a tuple of the wagtail version. If version argument is non-empty,
+    then checks for correctness of the tuple provided.
+    """
+    if version is None:
+        from wagtail import VERSION as version
+    else:
+        assert len(version) == 5
+        assert version[3] in ('alpha', 'beta', 'rc', 'final')
+
+    return version
+
+
+def get_docs_version(version=None):
+    version = get_complete_version(version)
+    if version[3] != 'final':
+        return 'dev'
+    else:
+        return '%d.%d' % version[:2]
+
+
+@lru_cache()
+def get_git_changeset():
+    """Returns a numeric identifier of the latest git changeset.
+
+    The result is the UTC timestamp of the changeset in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format.
+    This value isn't guaranteed to be unique, but collisions are very unlikely,
+    so it's sufficient for generating the development version numbers.
+    """
+    repo_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+    git_log = subprocess.Popen('git log --pretty=format:%ct --quiet -1 HEAD',
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+            shell=True, cwd=repo_dir, universal_newlines=True)
+    timestamp = git_log.communicate()[0]
+    try:
+        timestamp = datetime.datetime.utcfromtimestamp(int(timestamp))
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+    return timestamp.strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S')
+
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py b/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py
index fbeaf156c..6b9b8907d 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
-__version__ = '0.9.dev0'
 default_app_config = 'wagtail.wagtailcore.apps.WagtailCoreAppConfig'
+
+# Import Wagtail version so Django debug toolbar can see it
+from wagtail import __version__