diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8fedff0..2e39f60 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [tool.hatch.version]
 source = "vcs"
-path = "src/speech_prep/_version.py"
 
 [tool.ruff]
 target-version = "py39"
diff --git a/scripts/dev.sh b/scripts/dev.sh
index e06ff82..ee92702 100755
--- a/scripts/dev.sh
+++ b/scripts/dev.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ function usage() {
   echo "  check-all - Run all checks"
   echo "  tests     - Run tests"
   echo "  hooks     - Run all pre-commit hooks on all files"
+  echo "  clean     - Clean up build artifacts (dist/, build/, *.egg-info/)"
   echo ""
   exit 1
 }
@@ -56,6 +57,11 @@ case "$1" in
     echo "🪝 Running all pre-commit hooks on all files..."
     uv run pre-commit run --all-files
     ;;
+  clean)
+    echo "🧹 Cleaning up build artifacts..."
+    rm -rf dist/ build/ *.egg-info/
+    echo "✅ Cleanup completed!"
+    ;;
   *)
     usage
     ;;
diff --git a/src/speech_prep/__init__.py b/src/speech_prep/__init__.py
index 8aab3ac..f26c598 100644
--- a/src/speech_prep/__init__.py
+++ b/src/speech_prep/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 including silence detection and removal, speed adjustment, and format conversion.
 """
 
-from ._version import __version__
 from .core import SoundFile
 from .exceptions import (
     AudioPropertiesError,
@@ -15,6 +14,15 @@
     SpeechPrepError,
 )
 
+# Import version from hatch-vcs
+try:
+    from importlib.metadata import version as get_metadata_version
+
+    __version__ = get_metadata_version("speech-prep")
+except ImportError:
+    # Development or not installed
+    __version__ = "0.0.0"
+
 __all__ = [
     "SoundFile",
     "SpeechPrepError",
diff --git a/src/speech_prep/_version.py b/src/speech_prep/_version.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d48ec81..0000000
--- a/src/speech_prep/_version.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-"""Version information."""
-
-# This file is automatically generated by hatch-vcs
-__version__ = "0.0.0"  # This will be replaced during build