diff --git a/lib/forwardable.rb b/lib/forwardable.rb
index 91c932913e..7f219235d0 100644
--- a/lib/forwardable.rb
+++ b/lib/forwardable.rb
@@ -110,10 +110,7 @@
 #
 module Forwardable
   require 'forwardable/impl'
-
-  # Version of +forwardable.rb+
-  VERSION = "1.2.0"
-  FORWARDABLE_VERSION = VERSION
+  require "forwardable/version"
 
   @debug = nil
   class << self
diff --git a/lib/forwardable/forwardable.gemspec b/lib/forwardable/forwardable.gemspec
index f90b82269d..a3c727912f 100644
--- a/lib/forwardable/forwardable.gemspec
+++ b/lib/forwardable/forwardable.gemspec
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 begin
-  require_relative "lib/forwardable"
+  require_relative "lib/forwardable/version"
 rescue LoadError
   # for Ruby core repository
-  require_relative "../forwardable"
+  require_relative "version"
 end
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
diff --git a/lib/forwardable/version.rb b/lib/forwardable/version.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b0b67a88de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/forwardable/version.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+module Forwardable
+  # Version of +forwardable.rb+
+  VERSION = "1.2.0"
+  FORWARDABLE_VERSION = VERSION
+end