diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2a3f5d632710257716b95aaa618d17c0f6312292..be7356b9b6ba9d90b091ed2ace45303555ff0a52 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,9 +8,13 @@ PROJECT(Nektar++)
 # Helps organize projects in IDEs.
 SET_PROPERTY(GLOBAL PROPERTY USE_FOLDERS ON)
 
-SET(NEKTAR_VERSION_MAJOR 3)
-SET(NEKTAR_VERSION_MINOR 2)
-SET(NEKTAR_VERSION_PATCH 0)
+# Extract the version number from the VERSION file and set in CMake
+# The format of this file must be X.X.X
+FILE(STRINGS "VERSION" NEKVER)
+STRING(REPLACE "." ";" NEKVERLIST ${NEKVER})
+LIST(GET NEKVERLIST 0 NEKTAR_VERSION_MAJOR)
+LIST(GET NEKVERLIST 1 NEKTAR_VERSION_MINOR)
+LIST(GET NEKVERLIST 2 NEKTAR_VERSION_PATCH)
 SET(NEKTAR_VERSION ${NEKTAR_VERSION_MAJOR}.${NEKTAR_VERSION_MINOR}.${NEKTAR_VERSION_PATCH})
 
 INCLUDE(CMakeExportBuildSettings)