diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 2c5eca944546bf9acf6e917436f26319ae9e91dd..d681792ad89d3326fc8106ce7c91d256b94c5083 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import groovy.json.JsonOutput
+
 plugins {
   id "com.diffplug.spotless"
   id "com.github.spotbugs"
@@ -40,6 +42,15 @@ java {
   withSourcesJar()
 }
 
+jar {
+  doFirst {
+    def versionPath = "/resources/main/version.json"
+    def versionFile = new File(project.buildDir.toString() + versionPath)
+    def details = versionDetails()
+    versionFile.write(JsonOutput.prettyPrint(JsonOutput.toJson(details)))
+  }
+}
+
 javadoc {
   def docTitle = "<a href=\"https://code.usgs.gov/ghsc/nshmp/nshmp-lib.git\">${project.name}</a>"
   options.setUse(true)
@@ -60,10 +71,6 @@ javadoc {
   exclude "gov/usgs/earthquake/nshmp/internal/**"
 }
 
-jar {
-  finalizedBy("version")
-}
-
 // temporary task to support local running of lib while developing
 // model parsing classes; TODO remove when parser is stable
 task fatJar(type: Jar) {
diff --git a/gradle/git-version.gradle b/gradle/git-version.gradle
deleted file mode 100644
index 67c8f415e1709dab69f13a6fc42b9da6d3f61521..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/gradle/git-version.gradle
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-import groovy.json.JsonOutput
-
-apply plugin: "com.palantir.git-version"
-
-task version() {
-  doLast {
-    def versionPath = "/resources/main/version.json"
-    def versionFile = new File(project.buildDir.toString() + versionPath)
-    def details = versionDetails()
-    versionFile.write(JsonOutput.prettyPrint(JsonOutput.toJson(details)))
-  }
-}