diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 330bdc2..de9b179 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+## TBD
+
+### Enhancements
+
+* Add `bugsnag.__version__` attribute for programmatic version checking as per PEP 396 specification
+  [#409](https://github.com/bugsnag/bugsnag-python/pull/409)
+
 ## v4.8.0 (2024-07-08)
 
 ### Enhancements
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 901910d..e0072bd 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -97,9 +97,21 @@ If you're on the core team, you can release Bugsnag as follows:
     git checkout -b release/v4.x.x
     ```
 
-* Update the version number in [`setup.py`](./setup.py) and `bugsnag/notifier.py`(./bugsnag/notifier.py)
-* Update the CHANGELOG.md and README.md if necessary
+* Update the version number using the Makefile
+
+    ```
+    make VERSION=4.x.x bump
+    ```
+
+* Update the CHANGELOG.md (add version and date) and README.md if necessary
 * Commit and open a pull request into `master`
+
+    ```
+    git add bugsnag/__init__.py setup.py bugsnag/notifier.py CHANGELOG.md
+    git commit -m "Release v4.x.x"
+    git push origin release/v4.x.x
+    ```
+
 * Merge the PR when it's been reviewed
 * Create a release on GitHub, tagging the new version `v4.x.x`
 * Push the release to PyPI
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a2e6c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+.PHONY: bump
+
+bump: ## Bump the version numbers to $VERSION
+ifeq ($(VERSION),)
+	@$(error VERSION is not defined. Run with `make VERSION=number bump`)
+endif
+	@echo Bumping the version number to $(VERSION)
+	@sed -i.bak "s/__version__ = '.*'/__version__ = '$(VERSION)'/" bugsnag/__init__.py && rm bugsnag/__init__.py.bak
+	@sed -i.bak "s/version='.*',/version='$(VERSION)',/" setup.py && rm setup.py.bak
+	@sed -i.bak "s/'version': '.*'/'version': '$(VERSION)'/" bugsnag/notifier.py && rm bugsnag/notifier.py.bak
+	@echo "Successfully bumped version to $(VERSION)"
+	@echo "Updated files: bugsnag/__init__.py, setup.py, bugsnag/notifier.py"
diff --git a/bugsnag/__init__.py b/bugsnag/__init__.py
index 9c023b2..6c4c9b6 100644
--- a/bugsnag/__init__.py
+++ b/bugsnag/__init__.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
                             clear_feature_flag, clear_feature_flags,
                             aws_lambda_handler)
 
+__version__ = '4.8.0'
+
 __all__ = ('Client', 'Event', 'Configuration', 'RequestConfiguration',
            'configuration', 'configure', 'configure_request',
            'add_metadata_tab', 'clear_request_config', 'notify',
@@ -27,4 +29,4 @@
            'OnBreadcrumbCallback', 'leave_breadcrumb', 'add_on_breadcrumb',
            'remove_on_breadcrumb', 'FeatureFlag', 'add_feature_flag',
            'add_feature_flags', 'clear_feature_flag', 'clear_feature_flags',
-           'aws_lambda_handler')
+           'aws_lambda_handler', '__version__')
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 7c0b5e2..dccb2fb 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -49,5 +49,5 @@
     install_requires=['webob'],
     extras_require={
         'flask': ['flask', 'blinker']
-    },
+    }
 )