diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 54d974a26..d3df54878 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.25)
 
-project(mlx LANGUAGES C CXX)
+if(NOT MLX_VERSION)
+  set(MLX_VERSION 0.23.1)
+  set(MLX_PROJECT_VERSION ${MLX_VERSION})
+else()
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "^([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+).*" "\\1" MLX_PROJECT_VERSION
+                       ${MLX_VERSION})
+endif()
+
+project(
+  mlx
+  LANGUAGES C CXX
+  VERSION ${MLX_PROJECT_VERSION})
 
 # ----------------------------- Setup -----------------------------
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
@@ -24,10 +35,17 @@ option(MLX_BUILD_BLAS_FROM_SOURCE "Build OpenBLAS from source code" OFF)
 option(MLX_METAL_JIT "Use JIT compilation for Metal kernels" OFF)
 option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build mlx as a shared library" OFF)
 
-if(NOT MLX_VERSION)
-  set(MLX_VERSION 0.23.1)
-endif()
-add_compile_definitions("MLX_VERSION=${MLX_VERSION}")
+math(
+  EXPR
+  MLX_VERSION_NUMERIC
+  "1000000 * ${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR} + 1000 * ${PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR} + ${PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH}"
+  OUTPUT_FORMAT DECIMAL)
+add_compile_definitions(
+  "MLX_VERSION=${MLX_VERSION}"
+  "MLX_VERSION_MAJOR=${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR}"
+  "MLX_VERSION_MINOR=${PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR}"
+  "MLX_VERSION_PATCH=${PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH}"
+  "MLX_VERSION_NUMERIC=${MLX_VERSION_NUMERIC}")
 
 # --------------------- Processor tests -------------------------
 message(
diff --git a/mlx/export.cpp b/mlx/export.cpp
index 935c87142..361d73f66 100644
--- a/mlx/export.cpp
+++ b/mlx/export.cpp
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 #include "mlx/fast_primitives.h"
 #include "mlx/primitives.h"
 #include "mlx/utils.h"
-
-#define STRINGIFY(x) #x
-#define TOSTRING(x) STRINGIFY(x)
+#include "mlx/version.h"
 
 // clang-format off
 #define SERIALIZE_PRIMITIVE(primitive, ...)  \
@@ -379,7 +377,7 @@ struct PrimitiveFactory {
 };
 
 void write_header(Writer& os, int count, bool shapeless) {
-  serialize(os, std::string(TOSTRING(MLX_VERSION)));
+  serialize(os, std::string(version()));
   serialize(os, count);
   serialize(os, shapeless);
 }
diff --git a/mlx/mlx.h b/mlx/mlx.h
index 36acb5e30..0fc657ca4 100644
--- a/mlx/mlx.h
+++ b/mlx/mlx.h
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@
 #include "mlx/stream.h"
 #include "mlx/transforms.h"
 #include "mlx/utils.h"
+#include "mlx/version.h"
diff --git a/mlx/version.h b/mlx/version.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..218d44731
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlx/version.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+// Copyright © 2023-2024 Apple Inc.
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <string>
+
+#define STRINGIFY(x) #x
+#define TOSTRING(x) STRINGIFY(x)
+
+namespace mlx::core {
+
+constexpr const char* version() {
+  return TOSTRING(MLX_VERSION);
+}
+
+constexpr int version_major() {
+  return MLX_VERSION_MAJOR;
+}
+
+constexpr int version_minor() {
+  return MLX_VERSION_MINOR;
+}
+
+constexpr int version_patch() {
+  return MLX_VERSION_PATCH;
+}
+
+constexpr int version_numeric() {
+  return MLX_VERSION_NUMERIC;
+}
+
+} // namespace mlx::core