diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-on-publish-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-on-publish-release.yaml
index ede6b02d..710e1e62 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-on-publish-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-on-publish-release.yaml
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ jobs:
       run: |-
         gcloud config get-value project
 
+    - name: Update package version
+      run: |
+        sed -i 's/__version__ = .*/__version__ = "${{github.ref_name}}"/g' holmes/__init__.py
+        sed -i 's/0.0.0/${{github.ref_name}}/g' helm/holmes/Chart.yaml helm/holmes/values.yaml
+        sed -i 's/0.0.1/${{github.ref_name}}/g' helm/holmes/Chart.yaml
+
     - name: Set up Docker Buildx
       uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v1
 
@@ -41,11 +47,6 @@ jobs:
         build-args: |
           BUILDKIT_INLINE_CACHE=1
 
-    - name: Update package version
-      run: |
-        sed -i 's/0.0.0/${{github.ref_name}}/g' helm/holmes/Chart.yaml helm/holmes/values.yaml
-        sed -i 's/0.0.1/${{github.ref_name}}/g' helm/holmes/Chart.yaml
-
     - name: Save artifact with helm chart
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
       with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-on-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-on-release.yaml
index b944eedb..14d916a3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-on-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-on-release.yaml
@@ -30,6 +30,23 @@ jobs:
       if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
       run: |
         sudo apt-get install -y binutils
+    
+    - name: Update package version (Linux)
+      if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
+      run: sed -i 's/__version__ = .*/__version__ = "${{ github.ref_name }}"/g' holmes/__init__.py
+
+    # mac has BSD style sed command where you specify -i '' and not just -i
+    - name: Update package version (macOS)
+      if: matrix.os == 'macos-latest'
+      run: sed -i '' 's/__version__ = .*/__version__ = "${{ github.ref_name }}"/g' holmes/__init__.py
+
+    # windows has no sed, so we use powershell
+    - name: Update package version (Windows)
+      if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+      run: |
+        $filePath = 'holmes/__init__.py'
+        (Get-Content $filePath) -replace '__version__ = .+', '__version__ = "${{ github.ref_name }}"' | Set-Content $filePath
+      shell: pwsh
 
     - name: Build with PyInstaller
       shell: bash
diff --git a/holmes.py b/holmes.py
index 81403152..0caa9af2 100644
--- a/holmes.py
+++ b/holmes.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 from holmes.config import Config, LLMType
 from holmes.plugins.destinations import DestinationType
 from holmes.plugins.prompts import load_prompt
-from holmes import __version__
+from holmes import get_version
 
 app = typer.Typer(add_completion=False, pretty_exceptions_show_locals=False)
 investigate_app = typer.Typer(
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ def jira(
 
 @app.command()
 def version() -> None:
-    typer.echo(__version__)
+    typer.echo(get_version())
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     app()
diff --git a/holmes/__init__.py b/holmes/__init__.py
index 50107534..4a50a454 100644
--- a/holmes/__init__.py
+++ b/holmes/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,32 @@
-# For relative imports to work in Python 3.6
-# See https://stackoverflow.com/a/49375740
-import os, sys; sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)))
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
 
-__version__ = "0.2.1"
+# For relative imports to work in Python 3.6 - see https://stackoverflow.com/a/49375740
+sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)))
+
+# This is patched by github actions during release
+__version__ = "0.0.0"
+
+
+def get_version() -> str:
+    # the version string was patched by a release - return __version__ which will be correct
+    if not __version__.startswith("0.0.0"):
+        return __version__
+    
+    # we are running from an unreleased dev version
+    try:
+        # Get the latest git tag
+        tag = subprocess.check_output(["git", "describe", "--tags"]).decode().strip()
+
+        # Get the current branch name
+        branch = subprocess.check_output(["git", "rev-parse", "--abbrev-ref", "HEAD"]).decode().strip()
+
+        # Check if there are uncommitted changes
+        status = subprocess.check_output(["git", "status", "--porcelain"]).decode().strip()
+        dirty = "-dirty" if status else ""
+
+        return f"{tag}-{branch}{dirty}"
+    
+    except Exception:
+        return f"dev-version"