diff --git a/.ciscripts/build-deploy-linux.sh b/.ciscripts/build-deploy-linux.sh
index 4a5173616c..c65564b181 100755
--- a/.ciscripts/build-deploy-linux.sh
+++ b/.ciscripts/build-deploy-linux.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ set -o pipefail
 set -u
 set -v
 
+# Set the version for both vp and n3fit
+gitroot=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+gitversion=$(git describe --long --tags)
+tag=$(git describe --abbrev=0 --tags)
+gitversion=${gitversion/${tag}-/${tag}.}
+githash=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+gitversion=${gitversion/-g${githash}/+g${githash}}
+echo "build_version=\"${gitversion}\"" > ${gitroot}/n3fit/src/n3fit/version.py
+echo "build_version=\"${gitversion}\"" > ${gitroot}/validphys2/src/validphys/version.py
+
 #Set up netrc file for uploading/downloading
 echo "$NETRC_FILE" | base64 --decode > ~/.netrc
 
@@ -41,4 +51,4 @@ if [ $? == 0 ]; then
 else
 	echo "Conda package upload failed"
 	exit 1
-fi
\ No newline at end of file
+fi
diff --git a/.ciscripts/build-deploy-osx.sh b/.ciscripts/build-deploy-osx.sh
index 8aac55d8c8..80c826bb3d 100755
--- a/.ciscripts/build-deploy-osx.sh
+++ b/.ciscripts/build-deploy-osx.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,16 @@ set -v
 #Set up netrc file for uploading/downloading
 echo "$NETRC_FILE" | base64 --decode > ~/.netrc
 
+# Set the version for both vp and n3fit
+gitroot=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+gitversion=$(git describe --long --tags)
+tag=$(git describe --abbrev=0 --tags)
+gitversion=${gitversion/${tag}-/${tag}.}
+githash=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+gitversion=${gitversion/-g${githash}/+g${githash}}
+echo "build_version=\"${gitversion}\"" > ${gitroot}/n3fit/src/n3fit/version.py
+echo "build_version=\"${gitversion}\"" > ${gitroot}/validphys2/src/validphys/version.py
+
 conda build -q conda-recipe
 if [ $? != 0 ]; then
 	echo failed to build
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d7d689e2b2..84b70212e8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ option(ENABLE_ASAN "Enable ASAN" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_DEAD_STRIP "Enable use of flag `-dead_strip-dylibs`" OFF)
 option(VP_DEV "validphys in developer mode" ON)
 option(N3_DEV "n3fit in developer mode" ON)
+option(BURN_TAG "burn down the git tag in vp and n3fit (only local non-dev installation)" ON)
 set(PROFILE_PREFIX "" CACHE STRING "Where you store the 'data' folder. Default empty uses CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX/share/NNPDF.")
 
 if (PROFILE_PREFIX)
@@ -147,11 +148,45 @@ add_subdirectory(nnpdfcpp)
 # evolven3fit
 add_subdirectory(n3fit/evolven3fit)
 
+if((BURN_TAG) AND (NOT (VP_DEV) OR NOT (N3_DEV)))
+    # Find out where is the root of the git repository (if available) and finds the correct tag to burn down
+    # in the package. This just sets the variable, the actual burning is done down below by the validphys
+    # or n3fit installation and is found in the version.cmake file as it needs to be done post-installation
+    set(GIT_DIR "--git-dir=${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/.git")
+    # get the current tag (ex: 3.4) and check at the same time whether git is available and the .git folder found
+    execute_process(COMMAND git ${GIT_DIR} describe --abbrev=0 --tags OUTPUT_VARIABLE GIT_TAG ERROR_VARIABLE GIT_ERROR)
+    if(GIT_ERROR STREQUAL "")
+        string(STRIP ${GIT_TAG} GIT_TAG)
+        # get the number of revisions since tag happened
+        execute_process(COMMAND git ${GIT_DIR} rev-list ${GIT_TAG}..HEAD --count OUTPUT_VARIABLE GIT_REVN)
+        string(STRIP ${GIT_REVN} GIT_REVN)
+        # get the shortname for the hash
+        execute_process(COMMAND git ${GIT_DIR} rev-parse --short HEAD OUTPUT_VARIABLE GIT_HASH)
+        string(STRIP ${GIT_HASH} GIT_HASH)
+        # find out whether the repository is in a dirty state
+        # (this returns ${GIT_TAG}-dev so we have to remove the tag)
+        execute_process(COMMAND git ${GIT_DIR} describe --abbrev=0 --tags --dirty=-dev OUTPUT_VARIABLE GIT_DIRTY)
+        string(STRIP ${GIT_DIRTY} GIT_DIRTY)
+        string(REPLACE "${GIT_TAG}" "" GIT_DIRTY ${GIT_DIRTY})
+        # now concatenate everything
+        # with the format ex: 3.4.1880+g00b1741c-dev
+        set(GIT_VERSION "build_version='${GIT_TAG}.${GIT_REVN}+g${GIT_HASH}${GIT_DIRTY}'")
+        # now set the variable at install time
+        install(CODE "set(GIT_VERSION \"${GIT_VERSION}\")")
+    else(GIT_ERROR STREQUAL "")
+        set(BURN_TAG OFF)
+    endif(GIT_ERROR STREQUAL "")
+endif()
+
 # install validphys2
 if(VP_DEV)
-  install(CODE "execute_process(COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m pip install -e ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/validphys2)")
+    install(CODE "execute_process(COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m pip install -e ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/validphys2)")
 else(VP_DEV)
-  install(CODE "execute_process(COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m pip install --no-deps --ignore-installed ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/validphys2)")
+    install(CODE "execute_process(COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m pip install --no-deps --ignore-installed ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/validphys2)")
+    if(BURN_TAG)
+        install(CODE "set(LIBRARY \"validphys\")")
+        install(SCRIPT ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/version.cmake)
+    endif(BURN_TAG)
 endif(VP_DEV)
 
 # install n3fit
@@ -159,4 +194,8 @@ if(N3_DEV)
     install(CODE "execute_process(COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m pip install -e ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/n3fit)")
 else(N3_DEV)
     install(CODE "execute_process(COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m pip install --no-deps --ignore-installed ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/n3fit)")
+    if(BURN_TAG)
+        install(CODE "set(LIBRARY \"n3fit\")")
+        install(SCRIPT ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/version.cmake)
+    endif(BURN_TAG)
 endif(N3_DEV)
diff --git a/conda-recipe/build.sh b/conda-recipe/build.sh
index 78c2d4a0a9..b8bc3d039e 100644
--- a/conda-recipe/build.sh
+++ b/conda-recipe/build.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 
 mkdir build
 cd build
-cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${PREFIX} -DVP_DEV=OFF -DN3_DEV=OFF
+cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${PREFIX} -DVP_DEV=OFF -DN3_DEV=OFF -DBURN_TAG=OFF
 make -j${CPU_COUNT}
-make install
\ No newline at end of file
+make install
diff --git a/conda-recipe/run_test.sh b/conda-recipe/run_test.sh
index 33ebdca5d2..5b02830d7f 100644
--- a/conda-recipe/run_test.sh
+++ b/conda-recipe/run_test.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ pytest --pyargs n3fit
 
 mkdir bldtest
 cd bldtest
-cmake .. -DENABLE_TESTS=ON
+cmake .. -DENABLE_TESTS=ON -DBURN_TAG=OFF
 make catch_test -j
 ./libnnpdf/tests/catch_test
 
diff --git a/n3fit/src/n3fit/__init__.py b/n3fit/src/n3fit/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2..73a5163bc9 100644
--- a/n3fit/src/n3fit/__init__.py
+++ b/n3fit/src/n3fit/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+from n3fit.version import build_version
+__version__ = build_version
diff --git a/n3fit/src/n3fit/version.py b/n3fit/src/n3fit/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..adf81433ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/n3fit/src/n3fit/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# This file gets overwritten on deployemt, don't modify
+def __give_git():
+    # Get the path to this file
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    file_dir = Path(__file__).parent
+    from subprocess import run, CalledProcessError
+
+    try:
+        result = run(
+            ["git", "describe", "--tags", "--long", "--dirty=-dev"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            cwd=file_dir,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        tag = run(
+            ["git", "describe", "--abbrev=0", "--tags"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            cwd=file_dir,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        githash = run(
+            ["git", "rev-parse", "--short", "HEAD"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            cwd=file_dir,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        version = result.replace(f"-g{githash}", f"+g{githash}").replace(
+            f"{tag}-", f"{tag}."
+        )
+    except CalledProcessError:
+        # In principle this function should not exist on an installed version
+        # but who knows. Also maybe git doesn't work on the machine or whatever
+        version = "unknown"
+    return version
+
+
+build_version = __give_git()
diff --git a/validphys2/src/validphys/__init__.py b/validphys2/src/validphys/__init__.py
index 1704ed6675..d6c33482d3 100644
--- a/validphys2/src/validphys/__init__.py
+++ b/validphys2/src/validphys/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-#We don't want to import stuff here that could slow down the import times
\ No newline at end of file
+#We don't want to import stuff here that could slow down the import times
+from validphys.version import build_version
+__version__ = build_version
diff --git a/validphys2/src/validphys/version.py b/validphys2/src/validphys/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..adf81433ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validphys2/src/validphys/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# This file gets overwritten on deployemt, don't modify
+def __give_git():
+    # Get the path to this file
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    file_dir = Path(__file__).parent
+    from subprocess import run, CalledProcessError
+
+    try:
+        result = run(
+            ["git", "describe", "--tags", "--long", "--dirty=-dev"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            cwd=file_dir,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        tag = run(
+            ["git", "describe", "--abbrev=0", "--tags"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            cwd=file_dir,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        githash = run(
+            ["git", "rev-parse", "--short", "HEAD"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            cwd=file_dir,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        version = result.replace(f"-g{githash}", f"+g{githash}").replace(
+            f"{tag}-", f"{tag}."
+        )
+    except CalledProcessError:
+        # In principle this function should not exist on an installed version
+        # but who knows. Also maybe git doesn't work on the machine or whatever
+        version = "unknown"
+    return version
+
+
+build_version = __give_git()
diff --git a/version.cmake b/version.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..044ba44163
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+execute_process(COMMAND python -c "import ${LIBRARY}.version ; print(${LIBRARY}.version.__file__)" OUTPUT_VARIABLE VERSION_PATH)
+STRING(STRIP ${VERSION_PATH} VERSION_PATH)
+file(WRITE ${VERSION_PATH} ${GIT_VERSION})