diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7cba0c6b2..bbce2bc6f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,18 +1,20 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
 
-# Updating the version here will update it throughout ImHex as well
-file(READ "VERSION" IMHEX_VERSION)
-project(imhex VERSION ${IMHEX_VERSION})
-message("Project version ${IMHEX_VERSION}")
+# Options
+option(IMHEX_OFFLINE_BUILD "Enable offline build" OFF)
+option(IMHEX_PATTERNS_PULL_MASTER "Download latest files from master branch of the ImHex-Patterns repo" OFF)
 
+# Setup project
+loadVersion(IMHEX_VERSION)
+set(IMHEX_VERSION ${IMHEX_VERSION} PARENT_SCOPE)
+project(imhex VERSION ${IMHEX_VERSION})
+
+# Basic compiler and cmake configurations
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 23)
 set(IMHEX_BASE_FOLDER ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${IMHEX_BASE_FOLDER}/cmake/modules")
 include("${IMHEX_BASE_FOLDER}/cmake/build_helpers.cmake")
 
-option(IMHEX_OFFLINE_BUILD "Enable offline build" OFF)
-option(IMHEX_PATTERNS_PULL_MASTER "Download latest files from master branch of the ImHex-Patterns repo" OFF)
-
 # Make sure project is configured correctly
 setDefaultBuiltTypeIfUnset()
 detectBadClone()
diff --git a/cmake/build_helpers.cmake b/cmake/build_helpers.cmake
index 8a40a609e..db14b1ec0 100644
--- a/cmake/build_helpers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/build_helpers.cmake
@@ -277,6 +277,11 @@ macro(setDefaultBuiltTypeIfUnset)
     endif()
 endmacro()
 
+function(loadVersion version)
+    file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/VERSION" read_version)
+    set(${version} ${read_version} PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction()
+
 macro(detectBadClone)
     file (GLOB EXTERNAL_DIRS "lib/external/*")
     foreach (EXTERNAL_DIR ${EXTERNAL_DIRS})