diff --git a/cookiecutter.json b/cookiecutter.json
index 802db9b..16bcf7d 100644
--- a/cookiecutter.json
+++ b/cookiecutter.json
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     "gitlab_ci": ["Yes", "No"],
     "notebooks": ["Yes", "No"],
     "commandlineinterface": ["No", "Yes"],
+    "version_management": ["manually", "setuptools_scm"],
     "_extensions": [
         "local_extensions.PrecommitExtension",
         "local_extensions.ShortcutExtension",
diff --git a/tests/test_bake_project.py b/tests/test_bake_project.py
index 9bc17af..d2216b2 100644
--- a/tests/test_bake_project.py
+++ b/tests/test_bake_project.py
@@ -22,13 +22,15 @@ def test_with_remote(cookies):
 @pytest.mark.local
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("cli", ("Yes", "No"))
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("notebooks", ("Yes", "No"))
-def test_pytest_run(cookies, virtualenv, cli, notebooks):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version_management", ("manually", "setuptools_scm"))
+def test_pytest_run(cookies, virtualenv, cli, notebooks, version_management):
     # Bake the project
     bake = cookies.bake(
         extra_context={
             'project_slug': 'test_project',
             'commandlineinterface': cli,
             'notebooks': notebooks,
+            'version_management': version_management
         }
     )
 
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/pypi.yml b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/pypi.yml
index d066064..abd6ac8 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/pypi.yml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/pypi.yml
@@ -15,9 +15,11 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+{%- if cookiecutter.version_management == "setuptools_scm" %}
       with:
-          # setuptools_scm requires a non-shallow clone of the repository
-          fetch-depth: 0
+        # setuptools_scm requires a non-shallow clone of the repository
+        fetch-depth: 0
+{%- endif %}
 
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
       name: Install Python
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore
index 1accbcf..9d6700a 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
+{%- if cookiecutter.version_management == "setuptools_scm" %}
 # Ignore setuptools_scm generated version file
 {{ cookiecutter|modname }}/_version.py
-
+{%- endif %}
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/pyproject.toml b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/pyproject.toml
index dcb1470..026570e 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/pyproject.toml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 [build-system]
 requires = [
     "setuptools >=61",
+{%- if cookiecutter.version_management == "setuptools_scm" %}
     "setuptools_scm >=7",
+{%- endif %}
 ]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
@@ -18,7 +20,11 @@ readme = "README.md"
 maintainers = [
     { name = "{{ cookiecutter.full_name}}", email = "your@email.com" },
 ]
+{%- if cookiecutter.version_management == "setuptools_scm" %}
 dynamic = ["version"]
+{%- else %}
+version = "0.0.1"
+{%- endif %}
 requires-python = ">=3.8"
 {%- if cookiecutter.license != "None" %}
 license = { text = "{{ cookiecutter.license }}" }
@@ -75,6 +81,7 @@ docs = [
 packages = [
     "{{ cookiecutter|modname }}",
 ]
+{%- if cookiecutter.version_management == "setuptools_scm" %}
 
 # Configure setuptools_scm, which extracts the version number from
 # the version control system. For more information see its documentation:
@@ -83,6 +90,7 @@ packages = [
 version_scheme = "post-release"
 local_scheme = "node-and-date"
 write_to = "{{ cookiecutter|modname }}/_version.py"
+{%- endif %}
 
 # The following is the configuration for the pytest test suite
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/{{cookiecutter.__modname}}/__init__.py b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/{{cookiecutter.__modname}}/__init__.py
index 7a6ece7..4330ee1 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/{{cookiecutter.__modname}}/__init__.py
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/{{cookiecutter.__modname}}/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
+{%- if cookiecutter.version_management == "setuptools_scm" %}
 # The version file is generated automatically by setuptools_scm
 from {{ cookiecutter|modname }}._version import version as __version__
+{%- else %}
+from importlib import metadata
 
+__version__ = metadata.version(__package__)
+del metadata
+{%- endif %}
 
 def add_one(x: int):
     """An example function that increases a number