diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1cb1fee..aec729d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ The format follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/) and
 - `EmailTablesGuardrailTest`: every table is used by runtime code, seeded or listed as starting empty with a reason, and has help.
 
 ### Fixed
+- Derive the qbit metadata version from the Maven artifact version so released artifacts report their release version.
 - `email_template.ownerQbit` was stored but never read, and the built-in template did not set it. The built-in now names `qbit-email`, the field is read-only with help, and messages sent from a template name its owner qbit as `senderQbit` unless the request names one.
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e819271..127ccd4 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@
             <filtering>true</filtering>
             <includes>
                <include>help/*.yaml</include>
+               <include>qbit-email.properties</include>
             </includes>
          </resource>
          <resource>
@@ -182,10 +183,20 @@
             <filtering>false</filtering>
             <excludes>
                <exclude>help/*.yaml</exclude>
+               <exclude>qbit-email.properties</exclude>
             </excludes>
          </resource>
       </resources>
       <plugins>
+         <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+            <configuration>
+               <systemPropertyVariables combine.children="append">
+                  <qbit.artifactVersion>${project.version}</qbit.artifactVersion>
+               </systemPropertyVariables>
+            </configuration>
+         </plugin>
          <plugin>
             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
             <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducer.java b/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducer.java
index 7d0ea4b..13b552e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducer.java
@@ -21,10 +21,13 @@
 package com.kingsrook.qbits.email;
 
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Properties;
 import com.kingsrook.qbits.email.app.EmailApp;
 import com.kingsrook.qbits.email.bridge.EmailOutboxMessagingProviderMetaData;
 import com.kingsrook.qbits.email.delivery.EmailAlerts;
@@ -53,13 +56,41 @@ public class EmailQBitProducer implements QBitMetaDataProducer<EmailQBitConfig>
 {
    public static final String GROUP_ID    = "com.kingsrook.qbits";
    public static final String ARTIFACT_ID = "qbit-email";
-   public static final String VERSION     = "0.1.0";
+   public static final String VERSION     = loadVersion();
 
    private EmailQBitConfig qBitConfig;
    private String          namespace;
 
 
 
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Read the artifact version from the Maven-filtered resource.
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   private static String loadVersion()
+   {
+      try(InputStream inputStream = EmailQBitProducer.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("qbit-email.properties"))
+      {
+         if(inputStream == null)
+         {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Missing qbit-email.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("${"))
+         {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Missing or unfiltered version in qbit-email.properties; build with Maven");
+         }
+         return (version);
+      }
+      catch(IOException e)
+      {
+         throw new IllegalStateException("Could not read artifact version from qbit-email.properties", e);
+      }
+   }
+
+
+
    /*******************************************************************************
     ** Fluent setter for the config.
     *******************************************************************************/
diff --git a/src/main/resources/qbit-email.properties b/src/main/resources/qbit-email.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..defbd48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/qbit-email.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+version=${project.version}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducerTest.java b/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducerTest.java
index 406748b..bf0aceb 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/email/EmailQBitProducerTest.java
@@ -48,13 +48,17 @@ class EmailQBitProducerTest
       assertThat(producer.isEnabled()).isTrue();
       assertThat(producer.getNamespace()).isNull();
       assertThat(producer.getQBitConfig().getBackendName()).isEqualTo("memory");
+      String artifactVersion = System.getProperty("qbit.artifactVersion");
+      assertThat(artifactVersion).isNotBlank();
+      assertThat(EmailQBitProducer.VERSION).isEqualTo(artifactVersion);
+      assertThat(producer.getQBitMetaData().getVersion()).isEqualTo(artifactVersion);
       assertThat(producer.produce(instance)).isNotNull();
       assertThat(instance.getQBits()).isNotEmpty();
       assertThat(instance.getTable("helpContent")).isNull();
       assertThat(HelpBundles.of(instance).getBundles()).singleElement().satisfies(bundle ->
       {
          assertThat(bundle.getId()).isEqualTo("qbit-email");
-         assertThat(bundle.getVersion()).matches("\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+(-SNAPSHOT|-RC\\.\\d+)?");
+         assertThat(bundle.getVersion()).isEqualTo(artifactVersion).isEqualTo(EmailQBitProducer.VERSION);
       });
    }