diff --git a/fastplotlib/_version.py b/fastplotlib/_version.py
index e6ac4d62d..9d7171634 100644
--- a/fastplotlib/_version.py
+++ b/fastplotlib/_version.py
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 """
-Versioning: we use a hard-coded version number, because it's simple and always
-works. For dev installs we add extra version info from Git.
+_version.py v1.2
+
+Simple version string management, using a hard-coded version string
+for simplicity and compatibility, while adding git info at runtime.
+See https://github.com/pygfx/_version for more info.
+This code is subject to The Unlicense (public domain).
+
+Any updates to this file should be done in https://github.com/pygfx/_version
+
+Usage in short:
+
+* Add this file to the root of your library (next to the `__init__.py`).
+* On a new release, you just update the __version__.
 """
 
 import logging
@@ -8,17 +19,17 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 
-# This is the reference version number, to be bumped before each release.
+# This is the base version number, to be bumped before each release.
 # The build system detects this definition when building a distribution.
 __version__ = "0.5.1"
 
-# Allow using nearly the same code in different projects
+# Set this to your library name
 project_name = "fastplotlib"
 
 
-logger = logging.getLogger(project_name.lower())
+logger = logging.getLogger(project_name)
 
-# Get whether this is a repo. If so, repo_dir is the path, otherwise repo_dir is None.
+# Get whether this is a repo. If so, repo_dir is the path, otherwise None.
 repo_dir = Path(__file__).parents[1]
 repo_dir = repo_dir if repo_dir.joinpath(".git").is_dir() else None
 
@@ -44,14 +55,17 @@ def get_extended_version():
         release = base_release
     elif release != base_release:
         logger.warning(
-            f"{project_name} version from git ({release}) and __version__ ({base_release}) don't match."
+            f"{project_name} version from git ({release})"
+            + f" and __version__ ({base_release}) don't match."
         )
 
     # Build the total version
     version = release
     if post and post != "0":
         version += f".post{post}"
-    if labels:
+        if labels:
+            version += "+" + ".".join(labels)
+    elif labels and labels[-1] == "dirty":
         version += "+" + ".".join(labels)
 
     return version
@@ -98,7 +112,7 @@ def get_version_info_from_git():
         else:
             parts = output.strip().lstrip("v").split("-")
             if len(parts) <= 2:
-                # No tags (and thus also no post). Only git hash and maybe 'dirty'
+                # No tags (and thus no post). Only git hash and maybe 'dirty'.
                 parts = (None, None, *parts)
 
     # Return unpacked parts
@@ -106,8 +120,70 @@ def get_version_info_from_git():
     return release, post, labels
 
 
+def _to_tuple(v):
+    """Convert __version__ to version_info tuple."""
+    v = __version__.split("+")[0]  # remove hash
+    return tuple(int(i) if i.isnumeric() else i for i in v.split("."))
+
+
+# Apply the versioning
+base_version = __version__
 __version__ = get_version()
+version_info = _to_tuple(__version__)
+
+
+# The CLI part
+
+CLI_USAGE = """
+_version.py
+
+help            - Show this message.
+version         - Show the current version.
+bump VERSION    - Bump the __version__ to the given VERSION.
+update          - Self-update the _version.py module by downloading the
+                  reference code and replacing version number and project name.
+""".lstrip()
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    import sys
+    import urllib.request
+
+    _, *args = sys.argv
+
+    if not args:
+        print(f"{project_name} v{__version__}")
+
+    elif args[0] == "version":
+        print(f"{project_name} v{__version__}")
+
+    elif args[0] == "bump":
+        if len(args) != 2:
+            sys.exit("Expected a version number to bump to.")
+        new_version = args[1].lstrip("v")  # allow '1.2.3' and 'v1.2.3'
+        if not new_version.count(".") == 2:
+            sys.exit("Expected two dots in new version string.")
+        if not all(s.isnumeric() for s in new_version.split(".")):
+            sys.exit("Expected only numbers in new version string.")
+        with open(__file__, "rb") as f:
+            text = ref_text = f.read().decode()
+        text = text.replace(base_version, new_version, 1)
+        with open(__file__, "wb") as f:
+            f.write(text.encode())
+        print(f"Bumped version from '{base_version}' to '{new_version}'.")
+
+    elif args[0] == "update":
+        u = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pygfx/_version/main/_version.py"
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(u) as f:
+            text = ref_text = f.read().decode()
+        text = text.replace("0.0.0", base_version, 1)
+        text = text.replace("PROJECT_NAME", project_name, 1)
+        with open(__file__, "wb") as f:
+            f.write(text.encode())
+        print("Updated to the latest _version.py.")
+
+    elif args[0].lstrip("-") in ["h", "help"]:
+        print(CLI_USAGE)
 
-version_info = tuple(
-    int(i) if i.isnumeric() else i for i in __version__.split("+")[0].split(".")
-)
+    else:
+        print(f"Unknown command for _version.py: {args[0]!r}")
+        print("Use ``python _version.py help`` to see a list of options.")