diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 51607ab..81ba497 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ All notable changes to this project are documented here. The format follows Keep
 - Repository scaffold: `BackupsQBitConfig` and `BackupsQBitProducer` (table prefix `backups_`, permissions `backups.*`), build, CI and repository standard files.
 
 ### Changed
+- Read the QBit metadata version from the Maven artifact version so release builds report their released version.
 - Target QQQ `4.1.0-RC.8` (job progress).
 - Persist controlled backup failure messages instead of untrusted provider exception text.
 - Pin QQQ to released 4.1.0-RC.7 and replace the temporary help loader with core HelpBundles registration.
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e2097a6..7927a27 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@
             <filtering>true</filtering>
             <includes>
                <include>help/*.yaml</include>
+               <include>qbit-backups.properties</include>
             </includes>
          </resource>
          <resource>
@@ -138,6 +139,7 @@
             <filtering>false</filtering>
             <excludes>
                <exclude>help/*.yaml</exclude>
+               <exclude>qbit-backups.properties</exclude>
             </excludes>
          </resource>
       </resources>
@@ -146,6 +148,9 @@
             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
             <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
             <configuration>
+               <systemPropertyVariables combine.children="append">
+                  <qbit.artifactVersion>${project.version}</qbit.artifactVersion>
+               </systemPropertyVariables>
                <!-- the MinIO test container default credentials, resolved through ${env.X} refs like production -->
                <environmentVariables>
                   <STORAGE_TEST_ACCESS_KEY>minioadmin</STORAGE_TEST_ACCESS_KEY>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducer.java b/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducer.java
index 95d2b94..e33aba8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducer.java
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 package com.kingsrook.qbits.backups;
 
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.Properties;
 import com.kingsrook.qbits.backups.health.BackupsDestinationHealthChecks;
 import com.kingsrook.qbits.backups.health.BackupsSlaHealthCheck;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.health.HealthCategory;
@@ -38,13 +41,41 @@ public class BackupsQBitProducer implements QBitMetaDataProducer<BackupsQBitConf
 {
    public static final String GROUP_ID    = "com.kingsrook.qbits";
    public static final String ARTIFACT_ID = "qbit-backups";
-   public static final String VERSION     = "0.1.0";
+   public static final String VERSION     = loadVersion();
 
    private BackupsQBitConfig qBitConfig;
    private String namespace;
 
 
 
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Read the artifact version from the Maven-filtered resource.
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   private static String loadVersion()
+   {
+      try(InputStream inputStream = BackupsQBitProducer.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("qbit-backups.properties"))
+      {
+         if(inputStream == null)
+         {
+            throw (new IllegalStateException("Missing qbit-backups.properties; build with Maven to generate the artifact version"));
+         }
+         Properties properties = new Properties();
+         properties.load(inputStream);
+         String version = properties.getProperty("version");
+         if(version == null || version.isBlank() || version.contains("${"))
+         {
+            throw (new IllegalStateException("Missing or unfiltered version in qbit-backups.properties; build with Maven"));
+         }
+         return (version);
+      }
+      catch(IOException e)
+      {
+         throw (new IllegalStateException("Could not read artifact version from qbit-backups.properties", e));
+      }
+   }
+
+
+
    /*******************************************************************************
     ** Fluent setter for the config.
     *******************************************************************************/
diff --git a/src/main/resources/qbit-backups.properties b/src/main/resources/qbit-backups.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..defbd48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/qbit-backups.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+version=${project.version}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducerTest.java b/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducerTest.java
index c9c583b..804018d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/backups/BackupsQBitProducerTest.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package com.kingsrook.qbits.backups;
 
 
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.QInstance;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.help.bundles.HelpBundles;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.qbits.QBitConfigValidationException;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@@ -40,12 +41,16 @@ class BackupsQBitProducerTest
       BackupsQBitConfig config    = new BackupsQBitConfig().withBackendName("rdbms");
       BackupsQBitProducer producer  = new BackupsQBitProducer().withQBitConfig(config).withNamespace("backups");
 
+      String artifactVersion = System.getProperty("qbit.artifactVersion");
+      assertThat(artifactVersion).isNotBlank();
+      assertThat(producer.getQBitMetaData().getVersion()).isEqualTo(artifactVersion).isEqualTo(BackupsQBitProducer.VERSION);
       assertThat(producer.isEnabled()).isTrue();
       assertThat(producer.getQBitConfig()).isSameAs(config);
       assertThat(producer.getNamespace()).isEqualTo("backups");
       assertThat(config.getDefaultBackendNameForTables()).isEqualTo("rdbms");
 
       producer.produce(qInstance);
+      assertThat(HelpBundles.of(qInstance).getBundles().get(0).getVersion()).isEqualTo(artifactVersion).isEqualTo(BackupsQBitProducer.VERSION);
       assertThat(qInstance.getQBits()).hasSize(1);
       assertThat(qInstance.getQBits().values().iterator().next().getArtifactId()).isEqualTo("qbit-backups");
    }