diff --git a/haml.gemspec b/haml.gemspec
index d490daa7..fba2224b 100644
--- a/haml.gemspec
+++ b/haml.gemspec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 HAML_GEMSPEC = Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.name = 'haml'
   spec.summary = "An elegant, structured XHTML/XML templating engine.\nComes with Sass, a similar CSS templating engine."
-  spec.version = File.read('VERSION').strip
+  spec.version = "1.9.0"
   spec.author = 'Hampton Catlin'
   spec.email = 'haml@googlegroups.com'
   spec.description = <<-END