diff --git a/src/api/python/setup.py b/src/api/python/setup.py
index fe3473cb2..6b400c7d4 100644
--- a/src/api/python/setup.py
+++ b/src/api/python/setup.py
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ def _clean_native_build():
 def _z3_version():
     post = os.getenv('Z3_VERSION_SUFFIX', '')
     if RELEASE_DIR is None:
-        fn = os.path.join(ROOT_DIR, 'VERSION.txt')
+        fn = os.path.join(SRC_DIR_REPO, 'VERSION.txt')
         if os.path.exists(fn):
             with open(fn) as f:
                 for line in f:
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ class sdist(_sdist):
 # The Azure Dev Ops pipelines use internal OS version tagging that don't correspond
 # to releases.
 
-internal_build_re = re.compile("(.+)\_7")
+internal_build_re = re.compile("(.+)_7")
 
 class bdist_wheel(_bdist_wheel):