diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b79e8340..f29a8998 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,20 +1,9 @@
 from distutils.core import setup
+import cdist
 import os
 import re
 
 
-# Ensure version is present - the bundled/shipped version contains a static version,
-# the git version contains a dynamic version
-try:
-    import cdist.version
-except ImportError:
-    import subprocess
-    version = subprocess.getoutput('git describe')
-    with open('cdist/version.py', 'w') as fd:
-        fd.write('VERSION = "%s"\n' % version)
-
-import cdist
-
 def data_finder(data_dir):
     entries = []
     for name in os.listdir(data_dir):