diff --git a/dspy/__init__.py b/dspy/__init__.py
index fea48caca8..d579a4e6c9 100644
--- a/dspy/__init__.py
+++ b/dspy/__init__.py
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 configure = settings.configure
 context = settings.context
 
+# allow version introspection. Reads from the version in setup.py
+from pkg_resources import get_distribution
+__version__ = get_distribution('dspy').version
 
 import dspy.teleprompt