diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 829888e..b637372 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -41,5 +41,8 @@ htmlcov/
 .pytest_cache/
 .mypy_cache/
 
+# Generated version file
+src/cocoindex_code/_version.py
+
 # CocoIndex
 .cocoindex_code/
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2488987..89225f0 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ Issues = "https://github.com/cocoindex-io/cocoindex-code/issues"
 
 [tool.hatch.version]
 source = "vcs"
+fallback-version = "999.0.0"
+
+[tool.hatch.build.hooks.vcs]
+version-file = "src/cocoindex_code/_version.py"
 
 [tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
 packages = ["src/cocoindex_code"]
diff --git a/src/cocoindex_code/_version.py b/src/cocoindex_code/_version.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 7fa6f60..0000000
--- a/src/cocoindex_code/_version.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-# This file will be rewritten by the release workflow.
-# DO NOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE TO THIS FILE.
-__version__ = "999.0.0"