diff --git a/set_version.py b/set_version.py
index 720e8d7d3..07a1ea41e 100644
--- a/set_version.py
+++ b/set_version.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """Set the package version to the output of `git describe`"""
 
+import argparse
 import json
 import os.path
 import subprocess
@@ -7,13 +8,28 @@ import sys
 
 
 def main():
-    version = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'describe']).strip()
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument('--version', help="defaults to the output of `git describe`")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    version = args.version or subprocess.check_output(['git', 'describe']).strip()
+    set_version(version)
+
+
+def set_version(version):
     package_file = os.path.join('app', 'package.json')
     with open(package_file) as fp:
         package_data = json.load(fp)
     package_data['version'] = version
     with open(package_file, 'w') as fp:
         json.dump(package_data, fp, indent=2, separators=(',', ': '))
+    with open(os.path.join('lbry', 'lbrynet', '__init__.py'), 'w') as fp:
+        fp.write(LBRYNET_TEMPLATE.format(version=version))
+
+
+LBRYNET_TEMPLATE = """
+__version__ = "{version}"
+version = tuple(__version__.split('.'))
+"""
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':