diff --git a/src/IFTPipeline.jl b/src/IFTPipeline.jl
index aeb21d2d..c5613abf 100644
--- a/src/IFTPipeline.jl
+++ b/src/IFTPipeline.jl
@@ -21,6 +21,37 @@ include("feature-extraction.jl")
 include("tracker.jl")
 include("h5.jl")
 
+const iftversion = []
+function __init__()
+    function getiftversion()
+        deps = Pkg.dependencies()
+        iftversion = []
+        for (_, dep) in deps
+            dep.is_direct_dep || continue
+            dep.version === nothing && continue
+            dep.name != "IceFloeTracker" && continue
+            push!(iftversion, dep.version)
+            break
+        end
+
+        # For CI tests where IceFloeTracker is not a dependency
+        try
+            ift = iftversion[1]
+        catch
+            return "unknown"
+        end
+
+        ift = iftversion[1]
+        maj = Int(ift.major)
+        min = Int(ift.minor)
+        patch = Int(ift.patch)
+        return "v$maj.$min.$patch"
+    end
+
+    push!(iftversion, getiftversion())
+    return nothing
+end
+
 export cache_vector, sharpen,
     sharpen_gray,
     preprocess,
@@ -40,7 +71,8 @@ export cache_vector, sharpen,
     mkclitrack!,
     mkfilenames,
     makeh5files,
-    getlatlon
+    getlatlon,
+    iftversion
 
 export IceFloeTracker
 end
diff --git a/src/h5.jl b/src/h5.jl
index cf841af7..27b73b84 100644
--- a/src/h5.jl
+++ b/src/h5.jl
@@ -1,28 +1,3 @@
-function getiftversion()
-    deps = Pkg.dependencies()
-    iftversion = []
-    for (_, dep) in deps
-        dep.is_direct_dep || continue
-        dep.version === nothing && continue
-        dep.name != "IceFloeTracker" && continue
-        push!(iftversion, dep.version)
-        break
-    end
-
-    # For CI tests where IceFloeTracker is not a dependency
-    try
-        ift = iftversion[1]
-    catch
-        return "unknown"
-    end
-
-    ift = iftversion[1]
-    maj = Int(ift.major)
-    min = Int(ift.minor)
-    patch = Int(ift.patch)
-    return "v$maj.$min.$patch"
-end
-
 """
     makeh5filename(imgfname, ts)
 
@@ -125,7 +100,7 @@ The `index` group contains the spatial coordinates in the source image coordinat
 function makeh5files(; pathtosampleimg::String, resdir::String)
     latlondata = getlatlon(pathtosampleimg)
 
-    iftversion = getiftversion()
+    iftver = iftversion[1]
 
     ptpath = joinpath(resdir, "passtimes.jls")
     passtimes = deserialize(ptpath)
@@ -153,7 +128,7 @@ function makeh5files(; pathtosampleimg::String, resdir::String)
             # Add top-level attributes
             attrs(file)["fname_reflectance"] = reflectance_refs[i]
             attrs(file)["fname_truecolor"] = truecolor_refs[i]
-            attrs(file)["iftversion"] = iftversion
+            attrs(file)["iftversion"] = iftver
             attrs(file)["crs"] = latlondata["crs"]
             attrs(file)["reference"] = "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111406"
             attrs(file)["contact"] = "mmwilhelmus@brown.edu"
diff --git a/test/test-h5.jl b/test/test-h5.jl
index f59de688..01f1d15f 100644
--- a/test/test-h5.jl
+++ b/test/test-h5.jl
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ getcorners(m) = [m[1, 1], m[end, end]]
 latcorners = getcorners(latlondata["latitude"])
 loncorners = getcorners(latlondata["longitude"])
 
-iftversion = IFTPipeline.getiftversion()
+_iftversion = IFTPipeline.iftversion[1]
 
 ptpath = joinpath(resdir, "passtimes.jls")
 passtimes = deserialize(ptpath)
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ h5path = joinpath(resdir, "hdf5-files", "20220914T1244.aqua.labeled_image.250m.h
     @test typeof(fid) == HDF5.File
 
     # top level attributes
-    @test attrs(fid)["iftversion"] == iftversion
+    @test attrs(fid)["iftversion"] == _iftversion
     @test attrs(fid)["fname_reflectance"] == reflectance_refs[1]
     @test attrs(fid)["fname_truecolor"] == truecolor_refs[1]
     @test attrs(fid)["crs"] == latlondata["crs"]