diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 95131765f..bbcd456fc 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15.0)
+
+include(cmake/GetVersion.cmake)
+get_mapnik_version()
+
 project(mapnik 
-    VERSION 3.0.24 
+    VERSION ${MAPNIK_MAJOR_VERSION}.${MAPNIK_MINOR_VERSION}.${MAPNIK_PATCH_VERSION}
     HOMEPAGE_URL "https://mapnik.org/" 
     DESCRIPTION "Mapnik is an open source toolkit for developing mapping applications" 
     LANGUAGES CXX 
 )
 
+message(STATUS "mapnik version: ${PROJECT_VERSION}")
+
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
 
 set(ADDITIONAL_LIBARIES_PATHS "" CACHE STRING "currently only used on windows. Pass directories containing the dlls that are missing. You can ignore this, if the build (verify_app step) runs successfully" "")
diff --git a/cmake/GetVersion.cmake b/cmake/GetVersion.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c512645b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/GetVersion.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+macro(get_mapnik_version)
+    file(READ ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/mapnik/version.hpp VERSION_FILE)
+
+    string(REGEX MATCH "MAPNIK_MAJOR_VERSION ([0-9]*)" _ ${VERSION_FILE})
+    set(MAPNIK_MAJOR_VERSION ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
+
+    string(REGEX MATCH "MAPNIK_MINOR_VERSION ([0-9]*)" _ ${VERSION_FILE})
+    set(MAPNIK_MINOR_VERSION ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
+
+    string(REGEX MATCH "MAPNIK_PATCH_VERSION ([0-9]*)" _ ${VERSION_FILE})
+    set(MAPNIK_PATCH_VERSION ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
+endmacro()