diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index db800584..b7aa49de 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ tiny-AES-c/
 mbedtls/
 
 
-# Auto-generated version files
-nostr_core/version.h
-nostr_core/version.c
 mbedtls-arm64-install/
 mbedtls-install/
 secp256k1/
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cb760f1f..da46b3a0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ endif
 INCLUDES = -I. -Inostr_core -Icjson -Isecp256k1/include -Inostr_websocket -I./openssl-install/include
 
 # Library source files
-LIB_SOURCES = nostr_core/core.c nostr_core/core_relays.c nostr_core/nostr_crypto.c nostr_core/nostr_secp256k1.c nostr_core/nostr_aes.c nostr_core/nostr_chacha20.c nostr_core/version.c nostr_websocket/nostr_websocket_openssl.c cjson/cJSON.c
+LIB_SOURCES = nostr_core/core.c nostr_core/core_relays.c nostr_core/nostr_crypto.c nostr_core/nostr_secp256k1.c nostr_core/nostr_aes.c nostr_core/nostr_chacha20.c nostr_websocket/nostr_websocket_openssl.c cjson/cJSON.c
 LIB_OBJECTS = $(LIB_SOURCES:.c=.o)
 ARM64_LIB_OBJECTS = $(LIB_SOURCES:.c=.arm64.o)
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 79062996..001d7528 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.21
+0.1.23
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index f005d25e..05960ab3 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -70,67 +70,6 @@ increment_version() {
     # Create new git tag
     if git tag "$NEW_VERSION" 2>/dev/null; then
         print_success "Created new version tag: $NEW_VERSION"
-        
-        # Generate version.h header file
-        cat > nostr_core/version.h << EOF
-/*
- * NOSTR Core Library - Auto-Generated Version Header
- * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE MANUALLY - Generated by build.sh
- */
-
-#ifndef NOSTR_VERSION_H
-#define NOSTR_VERSION_H
-
-#define VERSION_MAJOR ${MAJOR}
-#define VERSION_MINOR ${MINOR}
-#define VERSION_PATCH ${NEW_PATCH}
-#define VERSION_STRING "${MAJOR}.${MINOR}.${NEW_PATCH}"
-#define VERSION_TAG "${NEW_VERSION}"
-
-/* Build information */
-#define BUILD_DATE "$(date +%Y-%m-%d)"
-#define BUILD_TIME "$(date +%H:%M:%S)"
-#define BUILD_TIMESTAMP "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')"
-
-/* Git information */
-#define GIT_HASH "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo 'unknown')"
-#define GIT_BRANCH "$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo 'unknown')"
-
-/* Display versions */
-#define VERSION_DISPLAY "${NEW_VERSION}"
-#define VERSION_FULL_DISPLAY "${NEW_VERSION} ($(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'), $(git rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo 'unknown'))"
-
-/* Version API functions */
-const char* nostr_core_get_version(void);
-const char* nostr_core_get_version_full(void);
-const char* nostr_core_get_build_info(void);
-
-#endif /* NOSTR_VERSION_H */
-EOF
-
-        # Generate version.c implementation file
-        cat > nostr_core/version.c << EOF
-/*
- * NOSTR Core Library - Auto-Generated Version Implementation
- * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE MANUALLY - Generated by build.sh
- */
-
-#include "version.h"
-
-const char* nostr_core_get_version(void) {
-    return VERSION_TAG;
-}
-
-const char* nostr_core_get_version_full(void) {
-    return VERSION_FULL_DISPLAY;
-}
-
-const char* nostr_core_get_build_info(void) {
-    return "Built on " BUILD_DATE " at " BUILD_TIME " from commit " GIT_HASH " on branch " GIT_BRANCH;
-}
-EOF
-        
-        print_success "Generated version.h and version.c"
     else
         print_warning "Tag $NEW_VERSION already exists - using existing version"
         NEW_VERSION=$LATEST_TAG
diff --git a/examples/version_test.c b/examples/version_test.c
index 36a2ef49..dcb5c7b4 100644
--- a/examples/version_test.c
+++ b/examples/version_test.c
@@ -1,34 +1,63 @@
 /*
  * NOSTR Core Library - Version Test Example
- * Demonstrates the automatic version increment system
+ * Simple version display using VERSION file
  */
 
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #include "nostr_core.h"
-#include "version.h"
+
+// Simple function to read VERSION file if it exists
+static const char* get_version_from_file(void) {
+    static char version_buf[64] = {0};
+    FILE* f = fopen("VERSION", "r");
+    if (f) {
+        if (fgets(version_buf, sizeof(version_buf), f)) {
+            // Remove trailing newline
+            size_t len = strlen(version_buf);
+            if (len > 0 && version_buf[len-1] == '\n') {
+                version_buf[len-1] = '\0';
+            }
+        }
+        fclose(f);
+        return version_buf;
+    }
+    return "unknown";
+}
 
 int main() {
     printf("NOSTR Core Library Version Test\n");
     printf("===============================\n\n");
     
-    // Display version information
-    printf("Version: %s\n", nostr_core_get_version());
-    printf("Full Version: %s\n", nostr_core_get_version_full());
-    printf("Build Info: %s\n", nostr_core_get_build_info());
+    // Initialize the library
+    if (nostr_init() != NOSTR_SUCCESS) {
+        printf("Failed to initialize NOSTR library\n");
+        return 1;
+    }
     
-    printf("\nVersion Macros:\n");
-    printf("VERSION_MAJOR: %d\n", VERSION_MAJOR);
-    printf("VERSION_MINOR: %d\n", VERSION_MINOR);
-    printf("VERSION_PATCH: %d\n", VERSION_PATCH);
-    printf("VERSION_STRING: %s\n", VERSION_STRING);
-    printf("VERSION_TAG: %s\n", VERSION_TAG);
+    // Display basic version information
+    const char* version = get_version_from_file();
+    printf("Library Version: %s\n", version);
+    printf("Library Status: Initialized successfully\n");
     
-    printf("\nBuild Information:\n");
-    printf("BUILD_DATE: %s\n", BUILD_DATE);
-    printf("BUILD_TIME: %s\n", BUILD_TIME);
-    printf("BUILD_TIMESTAMP: %s\n", BUILD_TIMESTAMP);
-    printf("GIT_HASH: %s\n", GIT_HASH);
-    printf("GIT_BRANCH: %s\n", GIT_BRANCH);
+    // Test basic functionality
+    printf("\nLibrary Functionality Test:\n");
+    unsigned char private_key[32];
+    unsigned char public_key[32];
+    
+    if (nostr_generate_keypair(private_key, public_key) == NOSTR_SUCCESS) {
+        printf("✓ Key generation works\n");
+    } else {
+        printf("✗ Key generation failed\n");
+    }
+    
+    // Cleanup
+    nostr_cleanup();
+    
+    printf("\nVersion test completed successfully.\n");
+    printf("Note: This library no longer includes runtime version functions\n");
+    printf("      to avoid build issues when used as a submodule.\n");
     
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/libnostr_core.a b/libnostr_core.a
index 25db5888..ce7a6d15 100644
Binary files a/libnostr_core.a and b/libnostr_core.a differ
diff --git a/tests/simple_init_test b/tests/simple_init_test
deleted file mode 100755
index 84854bb4..00000000
Binary files a/tests/simple_init_test and /dev/null differ