-dirname = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)) # Package's main folder
-sys.path.insert(0, dirname)
-import notmuch
+
+# get the notmuch version number without importing the notmuch module
+version_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)),
+ 'notmuch', 'version.py')
+exec(compile(open(version_file).read(), version_file, 'exec'))
+assert __VERSION__, 'Failed to read the notmuch binding version number'