diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 00ca941..ecd7ec7 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@ make build install
     - ensure that the tag that'll be created matches the version number, in the form `v{major}.{minor}.{patch}`
 4. click "publish"
     - when that happens, CI jobs will run that automatically publish the package to PyPI.
-5. Open another pull request with title `bump development version` adding `.99` to the version in `pyproject.toml`.
+5. Open another pull request with title `bump development version` adding `.99` to the version in `src/pydistcheck/__init__.py`.
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 268fa24..48832ce 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -32,7 +32,10 @@ maintainers = [
 name = "pydistcheck"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.8"
-version = "0.4.0.99"
+dynamic = ["version"]
+
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {attr = "pydistcheck.__version__"}
 
 [project.scripts]
 pydistcheck = "pydistcheck.cli:check"
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ changelog = "https://github.com/jameslamb/pydistcheck/releases"
 [build-system]
 
 requires = [
-    "setuptools>=63",
+    "setuptools>=67",
 ]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
diff --git a/src/pydistcheck/__init__.py b/src/pydistcheck/__init__.py
index 2d0de63..86c4d2e 100644
--- a/src/pydistcheck/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pydistcheck/__init__.py
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 
 # no one should be importing from this package
 __all__ = []  # type: ignore
+
+__version__ = "0.4.0.99"
diff --git a/src/pydistcheck/cli.py b/src/pydistcheck/cli.py
index f70a718..4d91f8e 100644
--- a/src/pydistcheck/cli.py
+++ b/src/pydistcheck/cli.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import click
 
+from pydistcheck import __version__ as _VERSION
 from pydistcheck.checks import (
     ALL_CHECKS,
     _CompiledObjectsDebugSymbolCheck,
@@ -31,6 +32,13 @@
     type=click.Path(exists=True),
     nargs=-1,
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--version",
+    is_flag=True,
+    show_default=False,
+    default=False,
+    help="Print the version of pydistcheck and exit.",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--config",
     type=click.Path(exists=True),
@@ -115,6 +123,7 @@
 )
 def check(  # pylint: disable=too-many-arguments
     filepaths: str,
+    version: bool,
     config: str,
     ignore: str,
     inspect: bool,
@@ -128,6 +137,10 @@ def check(  # pylint: disable=too-many-arguments
     Run the contents of a distribution through a set of checks, and warn about
     any problematic characteristics that are detected.
     """
+    if version:
+        print(f"pydistcheck {_VERSION}")
+        sys.exit(0)
+
     print("==================== running pydistcheck ====================")
     filepaths_to_check = [click.format_filename(f) for f in filepaths]
     conf = _Config()
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 7efea80..06d35d5 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -40,6 +40,23 @@ def test_check_runs_without_error(distro_file):
     assert result.exit_code == 0
 
 
+def test_version_flag_works():
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        check,
+        [
+            "--version",
+        ],
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    _assert_log_matches_pattern(
+        result=result,
+        pattern=(r"^pydistcheck [0-9]{1}\.[0-9]{1,2}\.[0-9]{1,2}\.*[0-9]*$"),
+        num_times=1,
+    )
+
+
 def test_check_fails_with_informative_error_if_file_doesnt_exist():
     runner = CliRunner()
     result = runner.invoke(check, ["some-garbage.exe"])