diff --git a/astropy/__init__.py b/astropy/__init__.py
index c13469d0f88..3f49bec2ecf 100644
--- a/astropy/__init__.py
+++ b/astropy/__init__.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 import os
 from warnings import warn
 
+from .version import version as __version__
+
 __minimum_python_version__ = '3.6'
 __minimum_numpy_version__ = '1.16.0'
 # ASDF is an optional dependency, but this is the minimum version that is
@@ -75,18 +77,6 @@ def _is_astropy_setup():
             _is_astropy_source(main_mod.__file__))
 
 
-try:
-    from .version import version as __version__
-except ImportError:
-    # TODO: Issue a warning using the logging framework
-    __version__ = ''
-try:
-    from .version import githash as __githash__
-except ImportError:
-    # TODO: Issue a warning using the logging framework
-    __githash__ = ''
-
-
 # The location of the online documentation for astropy
 # This location will normally point to the current released version of astropy
 if 'dev' in __version__:
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 0914d286a3f..4fe0dd91f45 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -106,11 +106,7 @@
 # |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
 # built documents.
 
-# The short X.Y version.
-version = astropy.__version__.split('-', 1)[0]
-# The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = astropy.__version__
-
+release = version = astropy.__version__
 
 # -- Options for the module index ---------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 289e0707476..ee4030da68b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 [build-system]
 requires = ["setuptools",
+            "setuptools_scm",
             "wheel",
             "cython",
             "jinja2",
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 1dc6c1088fb..63199898ad6 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 [metadata]
 name = astropy
-version = 4.1.dev
 provides = astropy
 author = The Astropy Developers
 author_email = astropy.team@gmail.com
@@ -26,6 +25,7 @@ packages = find:
 requires = numpy
 zip_safe = False
 tests_require = pytest-astropy
+setup_requires = setuptools_scm
 install_requires = numpy>=1.16
 python_requires = >=3.6
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f4a672b6f08..05edfd0879d 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # Licensed under a 3-clause BSD style license - see LICENSE.rst
 
+import os
 import builtins
 from setuptools import setup
 
@@ -15,4 +16,4 @@
 # programmatically.
 
 from extension_helpers import get_extensions
-setup(ext_modules=get_extensions())
+setup(use_scm_version={'write_to': os.path.join('astropy', 'version.py')}, ext_modules=get_extensions())