diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 1258427..4ec8d9f 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-include MANIFEST.in
+include MANIFEST.in VERSION
 
 include *.rst *.txt *.cfg site.cfg.example
 
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index d6f8f99..bbdf116 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Releasing NumExpr
 
 * Author: Robert A. McLeod, Francesc Alted
 * Contact: faltet@gmail.com
-* Date: 2023-12-11
+* Date: 2024-06-20
 
 Following are notes for releasing NumExpr.
 
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Preliminaries
 -------------
 
 * Make sure that `RELEASE_NOTES.rst` and `ANNOUNCE.rst` are up-to-date with the latest news in the release.
-* Ensure that the new version number in `setup.cfg` is correct.
+* Ensure that the new version number in `VERSION` is correct.
 * Do a commit and a push:
 
     `git commit -a -m "Getting ready for release X.Y.Z"`
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Announcing
 Post-release actions
 --------------------
 
-* Add `.dev0` to the version number in `setup.cfg`, and bump the bugfix version
+* Add `.dev0` to the version number in `VERSION`, and bump the bugfix version
   number.
 * Create new headers for adding new features in `RELEASE_NOTES.rst`
   and add this place-holder:
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8bbb6e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2.10.1
diff --git a/numexpr/__init__.py b/numexpr/__init__.py
index 7946f85..648b869 100644
--- a/numexpr/__init__.py
+++ b/numexpr/__init__.py
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@
 # cpuinfo imports were moved into the test submodule function that calls them 
 # to improve import times.
 
-import os, os.path
-import platform
 from numexpr.expressions import E
 from numexpr.necompiler import (NumExpr, disassemble, evaluate, re_evaluate, 
     validate)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c57e423..8ca4e1c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -2,6 +2,48 @@
 requires = [
     "setuptools",
     "wheel",
-    "numpy>=2.0.0rc1",
+    "numpy>=2.0.0",
 ]
-build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
\ No newline at end of file
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
+include = ["numexpr"]
+
+[project]
+name = "numexpr"
+description = "Fast numerical expression evaluator for NumPy"
+authors = [{name = "David M. Cooke, Francesc Alted, and others", email = "blosc@blosc.org"}]
+maintainers = [{ name = "Blosc Development Team", email = "blosc@blosc.org"}]
+classifiers = [
+    "Development Status :: 6 - Mature",
+    "Intended Audience :: Developers",
+    "Intended Audience :: Information Technology",
+    "Intended Audience :: Science/Research",
+    "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
+    "Programming Language :: Python",
+    "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules",
+    "Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows",
+    "Operating System :: Unix",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
+]
+requires-python = ">=3.9"
+# Follow guidelines from https://scientific-python.org/specs/spec-0000/
+dependencies = [
+    "numpy>=1.23.0",
+]
+dynamic = ["version"]
+
+[project.urls]
+homepage = "https://github.com/pydata/numexpr"
+documentation = "https://numexpr.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user_guide.html"
+repository = "https://github.com/pydata/numexpr"
+
+[tool.cibuildwheel]
+skip = "cp36-* cp37-* pp37-* cp38-* pp* *-manylinux_i686 *_ppc64le *_s390x"
+# Let's use a more recent version of the manylinux image for more modern compilers
+manylinux-x86_64-image = "manylinux_2_28"
+manylinux-aarch64-image = "manylinux_2_28"
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 6b5b554..1c52baf 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-numpy >= 1.19.3 # keep in sync with NPY_TARGET_VERSION (setup.py)
+numpy >= 1.23.0 # keep in sync with NPY_TARGET_VERSION (setup.py)
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
deleted file mode 100644
index 8e3588c..0000000
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-[metadata]
-name = numexpr
-version = 2.10.1.dev0
-description = Fast numerical expression evaluator for NumPy
-author = David M. Cooke, Francesc Alted, and others
-maintainer = Francesc Alted
-maintainer_email = faltet@gmail.com
-url = https://github.com/pydata/numexpr
-long_description = file: README.rst
-long_description_content_type = text/x-rst
-license = MIT
-classifiers =
-    Development Status :: 6 - Mature
-    Intended Audience :: Financial and Insurance Industry
-    Intended Audience :: Science/Research
-    License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License
-    Programming Language :: Python :: 3
-    Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9
-    Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10
-    Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11
-    Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12
-    Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows
-    Operating System :: POSIX
-    Operating System :: MacOS
-
-[options]
-zip_safe = False
-packages = find:
-python_requires = >=3.9
-# install_requires =
-#     numpy
-
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 33fd31d..04e53cc 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -10,19 +10,21 @@
 ####################################################################
 
 import os, os.path as op
-from setuptools import setup, Extension
 import platform
 import configparser
 import numpy as np
+from setuptools import setup, Extension
+
 
 with open('requirements.txt') as f:
     requirements = f.read().splitlines()
 
+version = open("VERSION").read().strip()
 with open('numexpr/version.py', 'w') as fh:
-    cfg = configparser.ConfigParser()
-    cfg.read('setup.cfg')
-    fh.write('# THIS FILE IS GENERATED BY `SETUP.PY`\n')
-    fh.write("version = '%s'\n" % cfg['metadata']['version'])
+    # Create the version.py file
+    fh.write("# THIS FILE IS GENERATED BY `setup.py`\n")
+    fh.write(f"__version__ = '{version}'\n")
+    fh.write(f"version = '{version}'\n")
     try:
         fh.write("numpy_build_version = '%s'\n" % np.__version__)
     except ImportError:
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@
 clibs = []
 def_macros = [
     # keep in sync with minimal runtime requirement (requirements.txt) 
-    ('NPY_TARGET_VERSION', 'NPY_1_19_API_VERSION')
+    ('NPY_TARGET_VERSION', 'NPY_1_23_API_VERSION')
 ]
 sources = ['numexpr/interpreter.cpp',
            'numexpr/module.cpp',
@@ -98,6 +100,7 @@ def setup_package():
     )
 
     metadata = dict(
+        version=version,
         install_requires=requirements,
         libraries=clibs,
         ext_modules=[