diff --git a/.bumpversion-dbt.cfg b/.bumpversion-dbt.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7de840514
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.bumpversion-dbt.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+[bumpversion]
+current_version = 0.16.0
+parse = (?P<major>\d+)
+	\.(?P<minor>\d+)
+	\.(?P<patch>\d+)
+	((?P<prerelease>[a-z]+)(?P<num>\d+))?
+serialize =
+	{major}.{minor}.{patch}{prerelease}{num}
+	{major}.{minor}.{patch}
+commit = False
+tag = False
+
+[bumpversion:part:prerelease]
+first_value = a
+values =
+	a
+	b
+	rc
+
+[bumpversion:part:num]
+first_value = 1
+
+[bumpversion:file:setup.py]
diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index 1906574cc..b2084a036 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -3,16 +3,19 @@ current_version = 0.16.0a1
 parse = (?P<major>\d+)
 	\.(?P<minor>\d+)
 	\.(?P<patch>\d+)
+	(\.(?P<pluginpatch>\d+))?
 	((?P<prerelease>[a-z]+)(?P<num>\d+))?
-serialize = 
+serialize =
+	{major}.{minor}.{patch}.{pluginpatch}{prerelease}{num}
 	{major}.{minor}.{patch}{prerelease}{num}
+	{major}.{minor}.{patch}.{pluginpatch}
 	{major}.{minor}.{patch}
 commit = False
 tag = False
 
 [bumpversion:part:prerelease]
 first_value = a
-values = 
+values =
 	a
 	b
 	rc
@@ -20,5 +23,7 @@ values =
 [bumpversion:part:num]
 first_value = 1
 
-[bumpversion:file:setup.py]
+[bumpversion:part:pluginpatch]
+first_value = 1
 
+[bumpversion:file:dbt/adapters/spark/__version__.py]
diff --git a/dbt/adapters/spark/__version__.py b/dbt/adapters/spark/__version__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5f9d0eb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dbt/adapters/spark/__version__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+version = "0.16.0a1"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f0c459683..344a767ac 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 from setuptools import find_packages, setup
 import os
+import re
 
 
 this_directory = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
@@ -9,18 +10,31 @@
 
 
 package_name = "dbt-spark"
-package_version = "0.16.0a1"
+
+
+# get this from a separate file
+def _dbt_spark_version():
+    _version_path = os.path.join(
+        this_directory, 'dbt', 'adapters', 'spark', '__version__.py'
+    )
+    _version_pattern = r'''version\s*=\s*["'](.+)["']'''
+    with open(_version_path) as f:
+        match = re.search(_version_pattern, f.read().strip())
+        if match is None:
+            raise ValueError(f'invalid version at {_version_path}')
+        return match.group(1)
+
+
+package_version = _dbt_spark_version()
 description = """The SparkSQL plugin for dbt (data build tool)"""
 
-# evade bumpversion with this fun trick
-DBT_VERSION = (0, 16, 0)
-dbt_version = '.'.join(map(str, DBT_VERSION))
+dbt_version = '0.16.0'
 # the package version should be the dbt version, with maybe some things on the
 # ends of it. (0.16.0 vs 0.16.0a1, 0.16.0.1, ...)
 if not package_version.startswith(dbt_version):
     raise ValueError(
         f'Invalid setup.py: package_version={package_version} must start with '
-        f'dbt_version={dbt_version} (from {DBT_VERSION})'
+        f'dbt_version={dbt_version}'
     )