diff --git a/lib/mongo.rb b/lib/mongo.rb
index 5b4cb02..5aee872 100644
--- a/lib/mongo.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo.rb
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@
 
 $:.unshift(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib'))
 
-module Mongo
-  VERSION = "1.3.1"
-end
+require 'mongo/version'
 
 module Mongo
   ASCENDING  =  1
diff --git a/lib/mongo/version.rb b/lib/mongo/version.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55e85e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/mongo/version.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module Mongo
+  VERSION = "1.3.1"
+end
diff --git a/mongo.gemspec b/mongo.gemspec
index 44759d3..7d0b557 100644
--- a/mongo.gemspec
+++ b/mongo.gemspec
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require "./lib/mongo"
+require File.expand_path('../lib/mongo/version', __FILE__)
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name = 'mongo'