diff --git a/spatialmath/__init__.py b/spatialmath/__init__.py
index 551481e1..97922905 100644
--- a/spatialmath/__init__.py
+++ b/spatialmath/__init__.py
@@ -51,5 +51,8 @@
     import importlib.metadata
 
     __version__ = importlib.metadata.version("spatialmath-python")
-except:
-    pass
+except importlib.metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
+    # running from a source checkout without an installed/editable
+    # spatialmath-python distribution -- e.g. importing straight from
+    # the repo root
+    __version__ = "unknown"
diff --git a/tests/test_version.py b/tests/test_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8590bb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import re
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import spatialmath
+
+
+class TestVersion(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_version_is_a_non_empty_string(self):
+        self.assertIsInstance(spatialmath.__version__, str)
+        self.assertTrue(spatialmath.__version__)
+
+    def test_version_matches_pyproject(self):
+        pyproject = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "pyproject.toml"
+        match = re.search(r'^version\s*=\s*"([^"]+)"', pyproject.read_text(), re.MULTILINE)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(match, f"couldn't find a version in {pyproject}")
+        self.assertEqual(spatialmath.__version__, match.group(1))
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()