diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..941d096c40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+[bumpversion]
+current_version = 4.0.0-beta.1
+commit = True
+tag = True
+parse = (?P<major>\d+)\.(?P<minor>\d+)\.(?P<patch>\d+)(-(?P<stage>[^.]*)\.(?P<devnum>\d+))?
+serialize =
+  {major}.{minor}.{patch}-{stage}.{devnum}
+  {major}.{minor}.{patch}
+
+[bumpversion:part:stage]
+optional_value = stable
+first_value = stable
+values =
+  alpha
+  beta
+  stable
+
+[bumpversion:part:devnum]
+
+[bumpversion:file:setup.py]
+search=    version='{current_version}',
+replace=    version='{new_version}',
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 09aca47afc..189abedf32 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -176,4 +176,23 @@ For Debian-like systems:
 apt install pandoc
 ```
 
-*TODO* other release instructions
+To release a new version:
+
+```sh
+bumpversion $$VERSION_PART_TO_BUMP$$
+git push && git push --tags
+make release
+```
+
+#### How to bumpversion
+
+The version format for this repo is `{major}.{minor}.{patch}` for stable, and
+`{major}.{minor}.{patch}-{stage}.{devnum}` for unstable (`stage` can be alpha or beta).
+
+To issue the next version in line, use bumpversion and specify which part to bump,
+like `bumpversion minor` or `bumpversion devnum`.
+
+If you are in a beta version, `bumpversion stage` will switch to a stable.
+
+To issue an unstable version when the current version is stable, specify the
+new version explicitly, like `bumpversion --new-version 4.0.0-alpha.1 devnum`
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 793806f070..3ed05aff80 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+bumpversion
 eth-testrpc>=1.3.3
 ethereum>=1.6.1,<2.0
 flaky>=3.3.0
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c73fcd7da4..f009e1309f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name='web3',
+    # *IMPORTANT*: Don't manually change the version here. Use the 'bumpversion' utility.
     version='4.0.0-beta.1',
     description="""Web3.py""",
     long_description_markdown_filename='README.md',