diff --git a/doc/source/conf.py b/doc/source/conf.py
index 5475fc60..bf35651d 100644
--- a/doc/source/conf.py
+++ b/doc/source/conf.py
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ copyright = '2011, Luke Campagnola'
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = ''
+version = '0.9.8'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = ''
+release = '0.9.8'
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/pyqtgraph/__init__.py b/pyqtgraph/__init__.py
index 11e281a4..f46184b4 100644
--- a/pyqtgraph/__init__.py
+++ b/pyqtgraph/__init__.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ PyQtGraph - Scientific Graphics and GUI Library for Python
 www.pyqtgraph.org
 """
 
-__version__ = None
+__version__ = '0.9.8'
 
 ### import all the goodies and add some helper functions for easy CLI use
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 055b74e8..8bda9eeb 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from distutils.core import setup
 import distutils.dir_util
-import os
+import os, re
+from subprocess import check_output
 
 ## generate list of all sub-packages
 path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
@@ -14,8 +15,52 @@ buildPath = os.path.join(path, 'build')
 if os.path.isdir(buildPath):
     distutils.dir_util.remove_tree(buildPath)
 
+
+## Determine current version string
+init = open(os.path.join(path, 'pyqtgraph/__init__.py')).read()
+m = re.search(r'__version__ = (\S+)\n', init)
+if m is None:
+    raise Exception("Cannot determine version number!")
+version = m.group(1).strip('\'\"')
+
+# If this is a git checkout, append the current commit
+if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(path, '.git')):
+    def gitCommit(name):
+        commit = check_output(['git', 'show', name], universal_newlines=True).split('\n')[0]
+        assert commit[:7] == 'commit '
+        return commit[7:]
+    
+    # Find last tag matching "pyqtgraph-.*"
+    tagNames = check_output(['git', 'tag'], universal_newlines=True).strip().split('\n')
+    while True:
+        if len(tagNames) == 0:
+            raise Exception("Could not determine last tagged version.")
+        lastTagName = tagNames.pop()
+        if re.match(r'pyqtgraph-.*', lastTagName):
+            break
+        
+    # is this commit an unchanged checkout of the last tagged version? 
+    lastTag = gitCommit(lastTagName)
+    head = gitCommit('HEAD')
+    if head != lastTag:
+        branch = re.search(r'\* (.*)', check_output(['git', 'branch'])).group(1)
+        version = version + "-%s-%s" % (branch, head[:10])
+    
+    # any uncommitted modifications?
+    modified = False
+    status = check_output(['git', 'status', '-s'], universal_newlines=True).strip().split('\n')
+    for line in status:
+        if line[:2] != '??':
+            modified = True
+            break        
+                
+    if modified:
+        version = version + '+'
+
+print("PyQtGraph version: " + version)
+
 setup(name='pyqtgraph',
-    version='',
+    version=version,
     description='Scientific Graphics and GUI Library for Python',
     long_description="""\
 PyQtGraph is a pure-python graphics and GUI library built on PyQt4/PySide and
diff --git a/tools/setVersion.py b/tools/setVersion.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b62aca01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/setVersion.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import re, os, sys
+
+version = sys.argv[1]
+
+replace = [
+    ("pyqtgraph/__init__.py", r"__version__ = .*", "__version__ = '%s'" % version),
+    #("setup.py", r"    version=.*,", "    version='%s'," % version),  # setup.py automatically detects version
+    ("doc/source/conf.py", r"version = .*", "version = '%s'" % version),
+    ("doc/source/conf.py", r"release = .*", "release = '%s'" % version),
+    #("tools/debian/control", r"^Version: .*", "Version: %s" % version)
+    ]
+
+path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), '..')
+
+for filename, search, sub in replace:
+    filename = os.path.join(path, filename)
+    data = open(filename, 'r').read()
+    if re.search(search, data) is None:
+        print('Error: Search expression "%s" not found in file %s.' % (search, filename))
+        os._exit(1)
+    open(filename, 'w').write(re.sub(search, sub, data))
+    
+print("Updated version strings to %s" % version)
+
+
+