diff --git a/pylibfdt/Makefile.pylibfdt b/pylibfdt/Makefile.pylibfdt
index 005cb25..5fe5c82 100644
--- a/pylibfdt/Makefile.pylibfdt
+++ b/pylibfdt/Makefile.pylibfdt
@@ -12,11 +12,10 @@ SETUPFLAGS += --quiet
 endif
 
 define run_setup
-	VERSION="$(dtc_version)"
 	$(SETUP) $(SETUPFLAGS) $(1)
 endef
 
-$(PYMODULE): $(PYLIBFDT_srcs) $(LIBFDT_archive) $(SETUP)
+$(PYMODULE): $(PYLIBFDT_srcs) $(LIBFDT_archive) $(SETUP) $(VERSION_FILE)
 	@$(VECHO) PYMOD $@
 	$(call run_setup, build_ext --build-lib=$(PYLIBFDT_objdir))
 
diff --git a/pylibfdt/setup.py b/pylibfdt/setup.py
index 95f1601..f0f0e10 100755
--- a/pylibfdt/setup.py
+++ b/pylibfdt/setup.py
@@ -4,13 +4,6 @@
 setup.py file for SWIG libfdt
 Copyright (C) 2017 Google, Inc.
 Written by Simon Glass <sjg@chromium.org>
-
-Version is provided in VERSION
-
-If these variables are not given they are parsed from the Makefiles. This
-allows this script to be run stand-alone, e.g.:
-
-    ./pylibfdt/setup.py install [--prefix=...]
 """
 
 from distutils.core import setup, Extension
@@ -18,73 +11,16 @@ import os
 import re
 import sys
 
-# Decodes a Makefile assignment line into key and value (and plus for +=)
-RE_KEY_VALUE = re.compile('(?P<key>\w+) *(?P<plus>[+])?= *(?P<value>.*)$')
+
+VERSION_PATTERN = '^#define DTC_VERSION "DTC ([^"]*)"$'
 
 
-def ParseMakefile(fname):
-    """Parse a Makefile to obtain its variables.
+def get_version():
+    version_file = "version_gen.h"
+    f = open(version_file, 'rt')
+    m = re.match(VERSION_PATTERN, f.readline())
+    return m.group(1)
 
-    This collects variable assigments of the form:
-
-        VAR = value
-        VAR += more
-
-    It does not pick out := assignments, as these are not needed here. It does
-    handle line continuation.
-
-    Returns a dict:
-        key: Variable name (e.g. 'VAR')
-        value: Variable value (e.g. 'value more')
-    """
-    makevars = {}
-    with open(fname) as fd:
-        prev_text = ''  # Continuation text from previous line(s)
-        for line in fd.read().splitlines():
-          if line and line[-1] == '\\':  # Deal with line continuation
-            prev_text += line[:-1]
-            continue
-          elif prev_text:
-            line = prev_text + line
-            prev_text = ''  # Continuation is now used up
-          m = RE_KEY_VALUE.match(line)
-          if m:
-            value = m.group('value') or ''
-            key = m.group('key')
-
-            # Appending to a variable inserts a space beforehand
-            if 'plus' in m.groupdict() and key in makevars:
-              makevars[key] += ' ' + value
-            else:
-              makevars[key] = value
-    return makevars
-
-def GetEnvFromMakefiles():
-    """Scan the Makefiles to obtain the settings we need.
-
-    This assumes that this script is being run from the top-level directory,
-    not the pylibfdt directory.
-
-    Returns:
-        Tuple with:
-            Version string
-            List of extra C preprocessor flags needed
-    """
-    basedir = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(sys.argv[0])))
-    makevars = ParseMakefile(os.path.join(basedir, 'Makefile'))
-    version = '%s.%s.%s' % (makevars['VERSION'], makevars['PATCHLEVEL'],
-                            makevars['SUBLEVEL'])
-    return version
-
-
-progname = sys.argv[0]
-version = os.environ.get('VERSION')
-
-# If we were called directly rather than through our Makefile (which is often
-# the case with Python module installation), read the settings from the
-# Makefile.
-if not version:
-    version = GetEnvFromMakefiles()
 
 libfdt_module = Extension(
     '_libfdt',
@@ -96,7 +32,7 @@ libfdt_module = Extension(
 
 setup(
     name='libfdt',
-    version= version,
+    version= get_version(),
     author='Simon Glass <sjg@chromium.org>',
     description='Python binding for libfdt',
     ext_modules=[libfdt_module],