diff --git a/tools/gitcount.ipynb b/tools/gitcount.ipynb
index 558075c..61ceb91 100644
--- a/tools/gitcount.ipynb
+++ b/tools/gitcount.ipynb
@@ -132,10 +132,16 @@
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
     "# get __version__\n",
-    "f = \"../{package}/__init__.py\".format(package=package_name)\n",
-    "\n",
-    "with open(f, \"r\") as initfile:\n",
-    "    exec(initfile.readline())"
+    "%run ../access/_version.py"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "__version__ = get_versions()[\"version\"]"
    ]
   },
   {