diff --git a/src/cmlibs/utils/__init__.py b/src/cmlibs/utils/__init__.py
index 79760ca..8ca559c 100644
--- a/src/cmlibs/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/src/cmlibs/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
-import importlib.metadata
+from importlib import metadata
 
-__version__ = importlib.metadata.version("cmlibs_utils")
+
+def get_version(package_name: str, fallback: str = "X.Y.Z") -> str:
+    try:
+        return metadata.version(package_name)
+    except metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
+        try:
+            return metadata.version(package_name.replace(".", "_"))
+        except metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
+            return fallback
+
+
+__version__ = get_version("cmlibs.utils")