diff --git a/BETA b/BETA
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29bb..000000000
diff --git a/MAJOR_VERSION b/MAJOR_VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index 7f8f011eb..000000000
--- a/MAJOR_VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-7
diff --git a/artiq/_version.py b/artiq/_version.py
index b3c3d5be4..87dc270e3 100644
--- a/artiq/_version.py
+++ b/artiq/_version.py
@@ -1,13 +1,4 @@
 import os
 
 def get_version():
-    override = os.getenv("VERSIONEER_OVERRIDE")
-    if override:
-      return override
-    srcroot = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), os.pardir)
-    with open(os.path.join(srcroot, "MAJOR_VERSION"), "r") as f:
-        version = f.read().strip()
-    version += ".unknown"
-    if os.path.exists(os.path.join(srcroot, "BETA")):
-        version += ".beta"
-    return version
+    return os.getenv("VERSIONEER_OVERRIDE", default="7.0.beta")
diff --git a/versioneer.py b/versioneer.py
index dd191d875..0c8fbaf35 100644
--- a/versioneer.py
+++ b/versioneer.py
@@ -11,16 +11,7 @@ def get_rev():
 """
 
 def get_version():
-    override = os.getenv("VERSIONEER_OVERRIDE")
-    if override:
-      return override
-    srcroot = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-    with open(os.path.join(srcroot, "MAJOR_VERSION"), "r") as f:
-        version = f.read().strip()
-    version += ".unknown"
-    if os.path.exists(os.path.join(srcroot, "BETA")):
-        version += ".beta"
-    return version
+    return os.getenv("VERSIONEER_OVERRIDE", default="7.0.beta")
 
 def get_rev():
     return os.getenv("VERSIONEER_REV", default="unknown")