diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 4db1a7bb..8ea89b6c 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -9,10 +9,7 @@ task :spec => :test
 CLEAN.include "**/*.rbc"
 
 def source_version
-  @source_version ||= begin
-    load './lib/sinatra/version.rb'
-    Sinatra::VERSION
-  end
+  @source_version ||= File.read(File.expand_path("../VERSION", __FILE__)).strip
 end
 
 def prev_feature
@@ -147,15 +144,8 @@ if defined?(Gem)
     "rack-protection" => "./rack-protection"
   }
 
-  # Load the gemspec using the same limitations as github
-  def spec(gem)
-    require 'rubygems' unless defined? Gem::Specification
-    directory = GEMS_AND_ROOT_DIRECTORIES[gem]
-    eval(File.read("#{directory + "/" + gem}.gemspec"))
-  end
-
   def package(gem, ext='')
-    "pkg/#{gem}-#{spec(gem).version}" + ext
+    "pkg/#{gem}-#{source_version}" + ext
   end
 
   directory 'pkg/'
@@ -212,6 +202,13 @@ if defined?(Gem)
 
     desc "Commits the version to github repository"
     task :commit_version do
+      # TODO: Find a better way later to manage versions between gems
+      sh <<-SH
+        sed -i '' "s/.*VERSION.*/  VERSION = '#{source_version}'/" lib/sinatra/version.rb
+        sed -i '' "s/.*VERSION.*/    VERSION = '#{source_version}'/" sinatra-contrib/lib/sinatra/contrib/version.rb
+        sed -i '' "s/.*VERSION.*/    VERSION = '#{source_version}'/" rack-protection/lib/rack/protection/version.rb
+      SH
+
       sh <<-SH
         git commit --allow-empty -a -m '#{source_version} release'  &&
         git tag -s v#{source_version} -m '#{source_version} release'  &&
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ed881561
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2.0.0.rc2
diff --git a/rack-protection/rack-protection.gemspec b/rack-protection/rack-protection.gemspec
index 03592702..74e9d706 100644
--- a/rack-protection/rack-protection.gemspec
+++ b/rack-protection/rack-protection.gemspec
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-$:.unshift File.expand_path("../../rack-protection/lib", __FILE__)
-require "rack/protection/version"
+version = File.read(File.expand_path("../../VERSION", __FILE__)).strip
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   # general infos
   s.name        = "rack-protection"
-  s.version     = Rack::Protection::VERSION
+  s.version     = version
   s.description = "Protect against typical web attacks, works with all Rack apps, including Rails."
   s.homepage    = "http://github.com/sinatra/sinatra/tree/master/rack-protection"
   s.summary     = s.description
diff --git a/sinatra-contrib/lib/sinatra/contrib/version.rb b/sinatra-contrib/lib/sinatra/contrib/version.rb
index f898d555..22e7f22e 100644
--- a/sinatra-contrib/lib/sinatra/contrib/version.rb
+++ b/sinatra-contrib/lib/sinatra/contrib/version.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module Sinatra
   module Contrib
-    VERSION = ::Sinatra::VERSION
+    VERSION = '2.0.0.rc2'
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/sinatra-contrib/sinatra-contrib.gemspec b/sinatra-contrib/sinatra-contrib.gemspec
index 8ccadc2e..b7aa642f 100644
--- a/sinatra-contrib/sinatra-contrib.gemspec
+++ b/sinatra-contrib/sinatra-contrib.gemspec
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 # -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
 
-$:.unshift File.expand_path("../../lib", __FILE__)
-require "sinatra/version"
+version = File.read(File.expand_path("../../VERSION", __FILE__)).strip
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name        = "sinatra-contrib"
-  s.version     = Sinatra::VERSION
+  s.version     = version
   s.description = "Collection of useful Sinatra extensions"
   s.homepage    = "http://github.com/sinatra/sinatra/tree/master/sinatra-contrib"
   s.license     = "MIT"
@@ -22,11 +21,11 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
 
   s.required_ruby_version = '>= 2.2.0'
 
-  s.add_dependency "sinatra", Sinatra::VERSION
+  s.add_dependency "sinatra", version
   s.add_dependency "mustermann", "~> 1.0"
   s.add_dependency "backports", ">= 2.0"
   s.add_dependency "tilt",      ">= 1.3", "< 3"
-  s.add_dependency "rack-protection", Sinatra::VERSION
+  s.add_dependency "rack-protection", version
   s.add_dependency "multi_json"
 
   s.add_development_dependency "rspec", "~> 3.4"
diff --git a/sinatra.gemspec b/sinatra.gemspec
index 0e2f250a..ccd2e5e5 100644
--- a/sinatra.gemspec
+++ b/sinatra.gemspec
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-$LOAD_PATH.unshift File.expand_path('../lib', __FILE__)
-require 'sinatra/version'
+version = File.read(File.expand_path("../VERSION", __FILE__)).strip
 
-Gem::Specification.new 'sinatra', Sinatra::VERSION do |s|
+Gem::Specification.new 'sinatra', version do |s|
   s.description       = "Sinatra is a DSL for quickly creating web applications in Ruby with minimal effort."
   s.summary           = "Classy web-development dressed in a DSL"
   s.authors           = ["Blake Mizerany", "Ryan Tomayko", "Simon Rozet", "Konstantin Haase"]
@@ -27,6 +26,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new 'sinatra', Sinatra::VERSION do |s|
 
   s.add_dependency 'rack', '~> 2.0'
   s.add_dependency 'tilt', '~> 2.0'
-  s.add_dependency 'rack-protection', '2.0.0.rc2'
+  s.add_dependency 'rack-protection', version
   s.add_dependency 'mustermann', '~> 1.0'
 end