diff --git a/src/ipfs-core/init.js b/src/ipfs-core/init.js
index a0ca36a45a..9b6f2b5692 100644
--- a/src/ipfs-core/init.js
+++ b/src/ipfs-core/init.js
@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ module.exports = (repo, opts, callback) => {
   }
 
   function writeVersion () {
-    var version = require('../../package.json').version
-
+    const version = '3'
     repo.version.set(version, (err) => {
       if (err) { return callback(err) }