diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3b286b137d..8a1ae8023b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ __pycache__
 /dist
 /*.egg-info
 *.py[c,o]
+/.eggs
 
 # JavaScript
 /Gruntfile.js
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3755c20aa8..8fbf817545 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ NPM_BIN ?= npm
 CHROMIUM_BIN=/tmp/chrome-linux/chrome
 GIT_BRANCH ?= $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 MANAGEMENT_COMMAND ?= awx-manage
-VERSION := $(shell cat VERSION)
+VERSION := $(shell $(PYTHON) setup.py --version)
 
 # NOTE: This defaults the container image version to the branch that's active
 COMPOSE_TAG ?= $(GIT_BRANCH)
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index 05c8bd681d..0000000000
--- a/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-19.4.0
diff --git a/awxkit/VERSION b/awxkit/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index 05c8bd681d..0000000000
--- a/awxkit/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-19.4.0
diff --git a/awxkit/setup.py b/awxkit/setup.py
index 657fce0a84..c185e519d1 100644
--- a/awxkit/setup.py
+++ b/awxkit/setup.py
@@ -4,11 +4,34 @@ import shutil
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages, Command
 
 
-def get_version():
+def use_scm_version():
+    return False if version_file() else True
+
+
+def get_version_from_file():
+    if vf := version_file():
+        with open(vf, 'r') as file:
+            return file.read().strip()
+
+
+def version_file():
     current_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
     version_file = os.path.join(current_dir, 'VERSION')
-    with open(version_file, 'r') as file:
-        return file.read().strip()
+
+    if os.path.exists(version_file):
+        return version_file
+
+
+def setup_requires():
+    if version_file():
+        return []
+    else:
+        return ['setuptools_scm']
+
+
+extra_setup_args = {}
+if not version_file():
+    extra_setup_args.update(dict(use_scm_version=dict(root="..", relative_to=__file__), setup_requires=setup_requires()))
 
 
 class CleanCommand(Command):
@@ -53,7 +76,7 @@ class CleanCommand(Command):
 
 setup(
     name='awxkit',
-    version=get_version(),
+    version=get_version_from_file(),
     description='The official command line interface for Ansible AWX',
     author='Red Hat, Inc.',
     author_email='info@ansible.com',
@@ -84,4 +107,5 @@ setup(
         'Topic :: System :: Systems Administration',
     ],
     entry_points={'console_scripts': ['akit=awxkit.scripts.basic_session:load_interactive', 'awx=awxkit.cli:run']},
+    **extra_setup_args,
 )
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 7ca1d590a1..62ea103e33 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -18,12 +18,34 @@ sharedir = "/usr/share/awx"
 docdir = "/usr/share/doc/awx"
 
 
-def get_version():
+def use_scm_version():
+    return False if version_file() else True
+
+
+def get_version_from_file():
+    if vf := version_file():
+        with open(vf, 'r') as file:
+            return file.read().strip()
+
+
+def version_file():
     current_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
     version_file = os.path.join(current_dir, 'VERSION')
-    with open(version_file, 'r') as file:
-        return file.read().strip()
 
+    if os.path.exists(version_file):
+        return version_file
+
+
+def setup_requires():
+    if version_file():
+        return []
+    else:
+        return ['setuptools_scm']
+
+
+extra_setup_args = {}
+if not version_file():
+    extra_setup_args.update(dict(use_scm_version=use_scm_version(), setup_requires=setup_requires()))
 
 if os.path.exists("/etc/debian_version"):
     sysinit = "/etc/init.d"
@@ -93,7 +115,7 @@ class egg_info_dev(_egg_info):
 
 setup(
     name=os.getenv('NAME', 'awx'),
-    version=get_version(),
+    version=get_version_from_file(),
     author='Ansible, Inc.',
     author_email='info@ansible.com',
     description='awx: API, UI and Task Engine for Ansible',
@@ -104,7 +126,6 @@ setup(
     packages=['awx'],
     include_package_data=True,
     zip_safe=False,
-    setup_requires=[],
     classifiers=[
         'Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable',
         'Environment :: Web Environment',
@@ -165,4 +186,5 @@ setup(
         },
     },
     cmdclass={'egg_info_dev': egg_info_dev},
+    **extra_setup_args,
 )