diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 94c3566..842b6c0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 *.snap
 prime/
 squashfs-root/
+VERSION
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index 6085e94..0000000
--- a/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-1.2.1
diff --git a/snap/snapcraft.yaml b/snap/snapcraft.yaml
index aef59c2..5c46338 100644
--- a/snap/snapcraft.yaml
+++ b/snap/snapcraft.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@ name: edgex-device-grove
 base: core18
 version: "replace-me"
 version-script: |
-  echo $(cat VERSION)-$(date +%Y%m%d)+$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+  if [ -f VERSION ]; then
+    PROJECT_VERSION=$(cat VERSION)
+  else
+    PROJECT_VERSION=local-dev
+  fi
+    echo $PROJECT_VERSION-$(date +%Y%m%d)+$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 summary: Connect to Grove sensors on Raspberry Pi with EdgeX
 description: |
   The EdgeX Device Grove Service is developed to control/communicate Grove