diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 58819c5..a0375ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -237,11 +237,10 @@ jobs:
           reset_branch="post-release-${{ steps.latest_tag.outputs.tag }}-reset"
           git switch -c $reset_branch
 
-          # increment patch version
+          # increment minor version
           major_version=$(echo "${{ steps.latest_tag.outputs.tag }}" | cut -d. -f1)
           minor_version=$(echo "${{ steps.latest_tag.outputs.tag }}" | cut -d. -f2)
-          patch_version=$(echo "${{ steps.latest_tag.outputs.tag }}" | cut -d. -f3)
-          version="$major_version.$minor_version.$((patch_version + 1))"
+          version="$major_version.$((minor_version + 1)).0"
           python scripts/update_version.py -v "$version"
           python scripts/lint.py
 
diff --git a/scripts/update_version.py b/scripts/update_version.py
index 1543a58..1c078b8 100644
--- a/scripts/update_version.py
+++ b/scripts/update_version.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from typing import NamedTuple
 
 from filelock import FileLock
+from packaging.version import Version
 
 _project_name = "modflow-devtools"
 _project_root_path = Path(__file__).parent.parent
@@ -14,69 +15,18 @@
 _package_init_path = _project_root_path / "modflow_devtools" / "__init__.py"
 _readme_path = _project_root_path / "README.md"
 _docs_config_path = _project_root_path / "docs" / "conf.py"
+_initial_version = Version("0.0.1")
+_current_version = Version(_version_txt_path.read_text().strip())
 
 
-class Version(NamedTuple):
-    """Semantic version number"""
-
-    major: int = 0
-    minor: int = 0
-    patch: int = 0
-
-    def __repr__(self):
-        return f"{self.major}.{self.minor}.{self.patch}"
-
-    @classmethod
-    def from_string(cls, version: str) -> "Version":
-        t = version.split(".")
-
-        vmajor = int(t[0])
-        vminor = int(t[1])
-        vpatch = int(t[2])
-
-        return cls(major=vmajor, minor=vminor, patch=vpatch)
-
-    @classmethod
-    def from_file(cls, path: PathLike) -> "Version":
-        lines = [
-            line.rstrip("\n")
-            for line in open(Path(path).expanduser().absolute(), "r")
-        ]
-        vmajor = vminor = vpatch = None
-        for line in lines:
-            line = line.strip()
-            if not any(line):
-                continue
-            t = line.split(".")
-            vmajor = int(t[0])
-            vminor = int(t[1])
-            vpatch = int(t[2])
-
-        assert (
-            vmajor is not None and vminor is not None and vpatch is not None
-        ), "version string must follow semantic version format: major.minor.patch"
-        return cls(major=vmajor, minor=vminor, patch=vpatch)
-
-
-class ReleaseType(Enum):
-    CANDIDATE = "Release Candidate"
-    RELEASE = "Release"
-
-
-_initial_version = Version(0, 0, 1)
-_current_version = Version.from_file(_version_txt_path)
-
-
-def update_version_txt(
-    release_type: ReleaseType, timestamp: datetime, version: Version
-):
+def update_version_txt(version: Version):
     with open(_version_txt_path, "w") as f:
         f.write(str(version))
     print(f"Updated {_version_txt_path} to version {version}")
 
 
 def update_init_py(
-    release_type: ReleaseType, timestamp: datetime, version: Version
+    timestamp: datetime, version: Version
 ):
     lines = _package_init_path.read_text().rstrip().split("\n")
     with open(_package_init_path, "w") as f:
@@ -89,22 +39,8 @@ def update_init_py(
     print(f"Updated {_package_init_path} to version {version}")
 
 
-def update_readme_markdown(
-    release_type: ReleaseType, timestamp: datetime, version: Version
-):
-    lines = _readme_path.read_text().rstrip().split("\n")
-    with open(_readme_path, "w") as f:
-        for line in lines:
-            if "### Version " in line:
-                line = f"### Version {version}"
-                if release_type != ReleaseType.RELEASE:
-                    line += f" — {release_type.value.lower()}"
-            f.write(f"{line}\n")
-    print(f"Updated {_readme_path} to version {version}")
-
-
 def update_docs_config(
-    release_type: ReleaseType, timestamp: datetime, version: Version
+    timestamp: datetime, version: Version
 ):
     lines = _docs_config_path.read_text().rstrip().split("\n")
     with open(_docs_config_path, "w") as f:
@@ -116,25 +52,23 @@ def update_docs_config(
 
 
 def update_version(
-    release_type: ReleaseType,
     timestamp: datetime = datetime.now(),
     version: Version = None,
 ):
     lock_path = Path(_version_txt_path.name + ".lock")
     try:
         lock = FileLock(lock_path)
-        previous = Version.from_file(_version_txt_path)
+        previous = Version(_version_txt_path.read_text().strip())
         version = (
             version
             if version
-            else Version(previous.major, previous.minor, previous.patch)
+            else Version(previous.major, previous.minor, previous.micro)
         )
 
         with lock:
-            update_version_txt(release_type, timestamp, version)
-            update_init_py(release_type, timestamp, version)
-            # update_readme_markdown(release_type, timestamp, version)
-            update_docs_config(release_type, timestamp, version)
+            update_version_txt(timestamp, version)
+            update_init_py(timestamp, version)
+            update_docs_config(timestamp, version)
     finally:
         try:
             lock_path.unlink()
@@ -162,13 +96,6 @@ def update_version(
         required=False,
         help="Specify the release version",
     )
-    parser.add_argument(
-        "-a",
-        "--approve",
-        required=False,
-        action="store_true",
-        help="Indicate release is approved (defaults to false for preliminary/development distributions)",
-    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "-g",
         "--get",
@@ -179,14 +106,11 @@ def update_version(
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     if args.get:
-        print(_current_version)
+        print(Version(_version_txt_path.read_text().strip()))
     else:
         update_version(
-            release_type=ReleaseType.RELEASE
-            if args.approve
-            else ReleaseType.CANDIDATE,
             timestamp=datetime.now(),
-            version=Version.from_string(args.version)
+            version=Version(args.version)
             if args.version
             else _current_version,
         )