--- a/pandas/__init__.py
+++ b/pandas/__init__.py
@@ -57,7 +57,4 @@ from pandas.util.print_versions import s
 import pandas.util.testing
 
 # use the closest tagged version if possible
-from ._version import get_versions
-v = get_versions()
-__version__ = v.get('closest-tag',v['version'])
-del get_versions, v
+from .version import version as __version__
