diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index ae0bde79..d29af737 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 project('zoitechat', 'c',
-  version: run_command('cat', 'VERSION', check: true).stdout().strip(),
+  version: files('VERSION'),
   meson_version: '>= 0.59.0',
   default_options: [
     'c_std=c17',