diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a94bf144c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+# This workflow takes care of creating release archives for the
+# Flint distribution. It is run for all PR and branch pushes as usual,
+# but also on tags whose name starts with `vX.Y` with X, Y numbers
+# (the idea is to use v1.2.3 or v1.2.3-beta3)
+#
+# For builds triggered by a tag, the tag is turned into a GitHub release and
+# the produced archives are attached to that.
+name: "Wrap releases"
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - v[1-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]    # allow v1.2.3
+      - v[1-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]-*  # allow v1.2.3-beta3 etc.
+    branches:
+      - trunk
+      - flint-*
+  schedule:
+    # Every day at 3:33 AM UTC
+    - cron: '33 3 * * *'
+
+concurrency:
+  # group by workflow and ref; the last slightly strange component ensures that for pull
+  # requests, we limit to 1 concurrent job, but for the trunk branch we don't
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/trunk' || github.run_number }}
+  # Cancel intermediate builds, but only if it is a pull request build.
+  cancel-in-progress: ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/pull/') }}
+
+jobs:
+  make-archive:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      get-version: ${{ steps.get-version.outputs.version }}
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: "Setup"
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get install -y autoconf libtool-bin
+          autoconf --version
+          libtool --version
+
+      - name: "Record FLINT version"
+        id: get-version
+        run: |
+          # special treatment for tags: these are used for actual releases, so
+          # we force the version in the VERSION file and in the tag to match
+          if ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') }} ; then
+            version=${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/v}
+          else
+            version=$(cat VERSION)
+          fi
+          echo "version=${version}"
+          echo "version=${version}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: "Bootstrap"
+        run: |
+          ./bootstrap.sh
+
+      - name: "Create source archive"
+        run: dev/make_dist.sh ${{ steps.get-version.outputs.version }}
+
+      - name: "Upload source archive as artifact"
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          if-no-files-found: error
+          name: flint
+          path: flint-${{ steps.get-version.outputs.version }}.*
+          retention-days: 1
+
+  test-archive:
+    needs: make-archive
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      FLINT_VERSION: ${{ needs.make-archive.outputs.get-version }}
+      MAKE: "make -j --output-sync=target"
+      TESTCFLAGS: "-Wall -O1"
+    steps:
+      - name: "Download archive from previous job"
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: flint
+
+      - name: "Setup"
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get install -y libgmp-dev
+          sudo apt-get install -y libmpfr-dev
+          # now *remove* autotools to verify we can build with out it
+          sudo apt-get remove -y autoconf
+          sudo apt-get remove -y automake
+          sudo apt-get remove -y libtool-bin
+
+      - name: "Extract"
+        run: |
+          tar -xf flint-$FLINT_VERSION.tar.gz
+          mv flint-$FLINT_VERSION flint # to simplify code
+
+      - name: "Configure"
+        run: |
+          cd flint
+          # *no* call to bootstrap.sh !
+          ./configure
+
+      - name: "Compile library"
+        run: |
+          cd flint
+          $MAKE
+          ldd libflint.so
+
+      - name: "Compile tests"
+        run: |
+          cd flint
+          export FLINT_TEST_MULTIPLIER=0.1
+          $MAKE tests
+
+      - name: "Check"
+        run: |
+          cd flint
+          export FLINT_TEST_MULTIPLIER=0.1
+          $MAKE check
+
+  upload-archive:
+    needs: [make-archive, test-archive]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') }}
+    steps:
+      - name: "Download archive from previous job"
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: flint
+
+      - name: Release
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
+        with:
+          fail_on_unmatched_files: true
+          files: |
+            flint-${{ needs.make-archive.outputs.get-version }}.tar.gz
+            flint-${{ needs.make-archive.outputs.get-version }}.tar.xz
+            flint-${{ needs.make-archive.outputs.get-version }}.zip
+
+# TODO: we could / should perhaps also test `make install` ?
+# TODO: also trigger a documentation build and upload the result?
+# TODO: if desired, we could e.g. also upload the archive to a server via scp
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e9aedcaa6f..5aa6e0df6b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ src/fmpz/fmpz.c
 src/config.h
 src/config.h.in
 src/fft_tuning.h
+src/flint.h
 src/flint-config.h
 build/
 config/
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 59b2539851..461667f10c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -211,7 +211,10 @@ configure_file(
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/CMake/cmake_config.h.in
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/flint-config.h
 )
-
+configure_file(
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/flint.h.in
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/flint.h
+)
 configure_file(
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/fmpz/link/fmpz_${MEMORY_MANAGER}.c
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/fmpz/fmpz.c
diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index f3a5a68894..5464086b10 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -16,9 +16,7 @@ ABS_FLINT_DIR:='$(patsubst %/,%, $(dir $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))))
 ABS_SRC_DIR:=$(ABS_FLINT_DIR)/$(SRC_DIR)
 ABS_BUILD_DIR:=$(ABS_FLINT_DIR)/$(SRC_DIR)
 
-FLINT_MAJOR:=@FLINT_MAJOR@
-FLINT_MINOR:=@FLINT_MINOR@
-FLINT_PATCH:=@FLINT_PATCH@
+FLINT_VERSION:=@FLINT_VERSION@
 FLINT_MAJOR_SO:=@FLINT_MAJOR_SO@
 FLINT_MINOR_SO:=@FLINT_MINOR_SO@
 FLINT_PATCH_SO:=@FLINT_PATCH_SO@
@@ -765,8 +763,7 @@ endif
 ################################################################################
 
 dist:
-	git archive --format tar --prefix flint-$(FLINT_MAJOR).$(FLINT_MINOR).$(FLINT_PATCH)/ origin/flint-$(FLINT_MAJOR).$(FLINT_MINOR) > ../flint-$(FLINT_MAJOR).$(FLINT_MINOR).$(FLINT_PATCH).tar; gzip ../flint-$(FLINT_MAJOR).$(FLINT_MINOR).$(FLINT_PATCH).tar
-	git archive --format zip --prefix flint-$(FLINT_MAJOR).$(FLINT_MINOR).$(FLINT_PATCH)/ origin/flint-$(FLINT_MAJOR).$(FLINT_MINOR) > ../flint-$(FLINT_MAJOR).$(FLINT_MINOR).$(FLINT_PATCH).zip 
+	dev/make_dist.sh $(FLINT_VERSION)
 
 ################################################################################
 # debugging
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fad0a3463f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.0.0-dev
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
index c6311d4e3d..8d8bc67af7 100755
--- a/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/bootstrap.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+set -e
 
 rm -rf autom4te.cache
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 7137370a4b..8a81c83860 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ AH_TOP(FLINT_COPYRIGHT_C)
 
 AC_PREREQ(2.59)
 
-define(FLINT_VERSION,[3.0.0-dev])
+m4_define(FLINT_VERSION,m4_include([VERSION]))
 
 AC_INIT(FLINT, FLINT_VERSION, [https://github.com/flintlib/flint/issues/], flint, [https://flintlib.org/])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([config])
@@ -68,9 +68,6 @@ AC_LANG(C)
 # 3.0.0 => 18.0.0
 
 # NOTE: This must be after AC_INIT
-FLINT_MAJOR=3
-FLINT_MINOR=0
-FLINT_PATCH=0
 FLINT_MAJOR_SO=18
 FLINT_MINOR_SO=0
 FLINT_PATCH_SO=0
@@ -1006,6 +1003,16 @@ fi
 # substitutions and definitions
 ################################################################################
 
+AC_SUBST([FLINT_VERSION], FLINT_VERSION)
+
+# split version into major/minor/patch using POSIX variable substitutions
+tail=FLINT_VERSION
+FLINT_MAJOR=${tail%%.*}
+tail=${tail#*.}
+FLINT_MINOR=${tail%%.*}
+tail=${tail#*.}
+FLINT_PATCH=${tail%-*}
+
 AC_SUBST(FLINT_MAJOR)
 AC_SUBST(FLINT_MINOR)
 AC_SUBST(FLINT_PATCH)
@@ -1119,7 +1126,7 @@ fi
 # epilog
 ################################################################################
 
-AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile flint.pc])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile flint.pc src/flint.h])
 AC_OUTPUT
 
 dnl Shorten the original help message
diff --git a/dev/make_dist.sh b/dev/make_dist.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..b2c4e27a02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/make_dist.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# This script is called by `make dist` and `.github/workflows/release.yml`
+# in order to create a flint release tarball. It must be called from within
+# the root directory of the flint source tree.
+#
+set -ex
+
+# first argument: the FLINT version in the form 1.2.3 or 1.2.3-something
+# if not given, uses the version in the VERSION file
+flint_version=$1
+
+# second, optional argument: the git revision from which to make the
+# release; default is to use the HEAD commit.
+git_ref=${2:-HEAD}
+
+# prefix used for the content of the tarball, and also the basename of
+# the final archive.
+archive_prefix="flint-$flint_version"
+
+echo "Exporting from git"
+git archive --format tar.gz --prefix "${archive_prefix}/" ${git_ref} > ${archive_prefix}.tar.gz
+
+echo "Extracting"
+tar -xf ${archive_prefix}.tar.gz
+rm ${archive_prefix}.tar.gz
+
+echo "Adding / patching / removing files"
+# copy some files that should be included in the distribution archive
+cp -r config ${archive_prefix}/
+cp configure ${archive_prefix}/
+cp src/config.h.in ${archive_prefix}/src/
+
+# remove some things we don't want to install
+cd ${archive_prefix}
+rm -rf .[a-z]*  # no dot files
+rm -rf dev
+
+# update VERSION file
+echo $flint_version > VERSION
+
+# return to top directory
+cd ..
+
+# create the source archives
+echo "Create .tar.gz"
+tar -cvzf ${archive_prefix}.tar.gz ${archive_prefix}
+
+echo "Create .tar.xz"
+tar -cJf ${archive_prefix}.tar.xz ${archive_prefix}
+
+echo "Create .zip"
+zip -9 -r ${archive_prefix}.zip ${archive_prefix}
diff --git a/doc/source/conf.py b/doc/source/conf.py
index f84d103aae..3d5fdc8b53 100644
--- a/doc/source/conf.py
+++ b/doc/source/conf.py
@@ -25,19 +25,12 @@
 copyright = u'2009-2023, The Flint development team'
 author = u'The Flint development team'
 
-# The short X.Y version
-version = u''
-
-
-for _line in open("../../configure.ac").readlines():
-    if _line.startswith("define(FLINT_VERSION,"):
-        _i1 = _line.find('[')
-        _i2 = _line.find(']', _i1 + 1)
-        version = _line[_i1+1:_i2]
-
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags
-release = version
+with open("../../VERSION") as f:
+    release = f.read().rstrip()
 
+# The short X.Y version
+version = '.'.join(release.split('.')[0:2])
 
 # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/flint.h b/src/flint.h.in
similarity index 98%
rename from src/flint.h
rename to src/flint.h.in
index 16de54d88b..11746bb73a 100644
--- a/src/flint.h
+++ b/src/flint.h.in
@@ -91,10 +91,10 @@ extern "C" {
 
 /* flint version number */
 
-#define __FLINT_VERSION 3
-#define __FLINT_VERSION_MINOR 0
-#define __FLINT_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL 0
-#define FLINT_VERSION "3.0.0-dev"
+#define __FLINT_VERSION @FLINT_MAJOR@
+#define __FLINT_VERSION_MINOR @FLINT_MINOR@
+#define __FLINT_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL @FLINT_PATCH@
+#define FLINT_VERSION "@FLINT_VERSION@"
 #define __FLINT_RELEASE_NUM(a,b,c) ((a)*10000 + (b)*100 + (c))
 #define __FLINT_RELEASE __FLINT_RELEASE_NUM(__FLINT_VERSION, __FLINT_VERSION_MINOR, __FLINT_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL)