diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a06808df..2382cabe 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -52,4 +52,3 @@ exp/
 _extras/
 *.sublime-*
 site/
-jrnl/__version__.py
diff --git a/jrnl/__version__.py b/jrnl/__version__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4bf5d5ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jrnl/__version__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+__version__ = "v2.2-beta"