diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index c363c30b48..8bd6dc7ff5 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.249.1
\ No newline at end of file
+2026.4.16.1
diff --git a/micromasters/settings.py b/micromasters/settings.py
index 0214059407..d1b157b893 100644
--- a/micromasters/settings.py
+++ b/micromasters/settings.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
                                get_string)
 from micromasters.sentry import init_sentry
 
-VERSION = "0.0.0"  # Default version
+VERSION = "2026.4.16.1"  # Default version
 version_file = Path(os.getcwd()) / "VERSION"
 if version_file.is_file():
     with open(version_file, encoding="UTF-8") as file:
diff --git a/micromasters/tests/test_settings.py b/micromasters/tests/test_settings.py
index 9c6ff1e27e..0a03e3d50e 100644
--- a/micromasters/tests/test_settings.py
+++ b/micromasters/tests/test_settings.py
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 import sys
 from unittest import mock
 
-import semantic_version
+import re
+import tomllib
+
 from ddt import data, ddt
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core import mail
@@ -152,9 +154,11 @@ def test_opensearch_index_pr_build(self):
             settings_vars = self.reload_settings()
             assert settings_vars['OPENSEARCH_INDEX'] == index_name
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def test_semantic_version():
-        """
-        Verify that we have a semantic compatible version.
-        """
-        semantic_version.Version(settings.VERSION)
+    def test_bump_my_version_format(self):
+        """Verify that VERSION matches the bump-my-version calver format."""
+        with open("pyproject.toml", "rb") as f:  # noqa: PTH123
+            pyproject = tomllib.load(f)
+        version_pattern = pyproject["tool"]["bumpversion"]["parse"]
+        package_version = pyproject["project"]["version"]
+        assert settings.VERSION == package_version
+        assert re.fullmatch(version_pattern, settings.VERSION)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1a53bbdde5..53cc540cb0 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "micromasters"
-version = "0.0.1"
+version = "2026.4.16.1"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
 dependencies = [
     "django>=5.2,<5.3",
@@ -79,3 +79,36 @@ dev = [
     "isort",
     "semantic-version",
 ]
+
+[tool.bumpversion]
+commit = false
+tag = false
+parse = "(?P<release>(?:[1-9][0-9]{3})\\.(?:1[0-2]|[1-9])\\.(?:3[0-1]|[12][0-9]|[1-9]))\\.(?P<build>\\d+)"
+serialize = ["{release}.{build}"]
+
+[tool.bumpversion.parts.release]
+calver_format = "{YYYY}.{MM}.{DD}"
+
+[tool.bumpversion.parts.build]
+first_value = "1"
+
+[[tool.bumpversion.files]]
+filename = "micromasters/settings.py"
+search = 'VERSION = "{current_version}"'
+replace = 'VERSION = "{new_version}"'
+
+[[tool.bumpversion.files]]
+filename = "pyproject.toml"
+search = 'version = "{current_version}"'
+replace = 'version = "{new_version}"'
+
+[[tool.bumpversion.files]]
+filename = "uv.lock"
+search = """
+name = "micromasters"
+version = "{current_version}"
+source = {{ virtual = "." }}"""
+replace = """
+name = "micromasters"
+version = "{new_version}"
+source = {{ virtual = "." }}"""
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index ff6d13d17b..ddfc4e301e 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1202,7 +1202,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "micromasters"
-version = "0.0.1"
+version = "2026.4.16.1"
 source = { virtual = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "boto3" },