diff --git a/npm/install.js b/npm/install.js
index cceb2824e6b3..3261c6958ac1 100755
--- a/npm/install.js
+++ b/npm/install.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
-// maintainer note - update this manually when doing new releases:
-var version = '0.28.1'
+// maintainer note - x.y.z-ab version in package.json -> x.y.z
+var version = require('./package').version.replace(/-.*/, '')
 
 var fs = require('fs')
 var os = require('os')