diff --git a/pygit2/__init__.py b/pygit2/__init__.py
index 48b15c7..ada4aaf 100644
--- a/pygit2/__init__.py
+++ b/pygit2/__init__.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ from .remote import Remote, get_credentials
 from .repository import Repository
 from .settings import Settings
 from .utils import to_bytes
-from .version import __version__
+from ._utils import __version__
 
 
 def init_repository(path, bare=False,
diff --git a/pygit2/_utils.py b/pygit2/_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d29ada
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pygit2/_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# Copyright 2010-2014 The pygit2 contributors
+#
+# This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2,
+# as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+# In addition to the permissions in the GNU General Public License,
+# the authors give you unlimited permission to link the compiled
+# version of this file into combinations with other programs,
+# and to distribute those combinations without any restriction
+# coming from the use of this file.  (The General Public License
+# restrictions do apply in other respects; for example, they cover
+# modification of the file, and distribution when not linked into
+# a combined executable.)
+#
+# This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+# General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to
+# the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+# Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+
+"""
+This is an special module, it provides stuff used by setup.py and by
+pygit2 at run-time.
+"""
+
+# Import from the Standard Library
+import inspect
+import codecs
+import os
+from os import getenv
+from os.path import abspath, dirname
+
+
+#
+# The version number of pygit2
+#
+__version__ = '0.21.3'
+
+
+#
+# Utility functions to get the paths required for bulding extensions
+#
+def _get_libgit2_path():
+    # LIBGIT2 environment variable takes precedence
+    libgit2_path = getenv("LIBGIT2")
+    if libgit2_path is not None:
+        return libgit2_path
+
+    # Default
+    if os.name == 'nt':
+        return '%s\libgit2' % getenv("ProgramFiles")
+    return '/usr/local'
+
+
+def get_libgit2_paths():
+    libgit2_path = _get_libgit2_path()
+    return (
+        os.path.join(libgit2_path, 'bin'),
+        os.path.join(libgit2_path, 'include'),
+        getenv('LIBGIT2_LIB', os.path.join(libgit2_path, 'lib')),
+    )
+
+
+#
+# Loads the cffi extension
+#
+def get_ffi():
+    from cffi import FFI
+
+    ffi = FFI()
+
+    # Load C definitions
+    dir_path = dirname(abspath(inspect.getfile(inspect.currentframe())))
+    decl_path = os.path.join(dir_path, 'decl.h')
+    with codecs.open(decl_path, 'r', 'utf-8') as header:
+        ffi.cdef(header.read())
+
+    # Load extension module
+    libgit2_bin, libgit2_include, libgit2_lib = get_libgit2_paths()
+    C = ffi.verify("#include <git2.h>", modulename='pygit2_cffi',
+                   libraries=["git2"],
+                   include_dirs=[libgit2_include], library_dirs=[libgit2_lib])
+
+    # Ok
+    return ffi, C
diff --git a/pygit2/ffi.py b/pygit2/ffi.py
index 34ff6c1..ae9e12c 100644
--- a/pygit2/ffi.py
+++ b/pygit2/ffi.py
@@ -28,54 +28,8 @@
 # Import from the future
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
-# Import from the Standard Library
-import inspect
-import codecs
-import os
-from os import getenv
-from os.path import abspath, dirname
-
-# Import from cffi
-from cffi import FFI
+# Import from pygit2
+from ._utils import get_ffi
 
 
-def _get_libgit2_path():
-    # LIBGIT2 environment variable takes precedence
-    libgit2_path = getenv("LIBGIT2")
-    if libgit2_path is not None:
-        return libgit2_path
-
-    # Default
-    if os.name == 'nt':
-        return '%s\libgit2' % getenv("ProgramFiles")
-    return '/usr/local'
-
-
-def get_libgit2_paths():
-    libgit2_path = _get_libgit2_path()
-    return (
-        os.path.join(libgit2_path, 'bin'),
-        os.path.join(libgit2_path, 'include'),
-        getenv('LIBGIT2_LIB', os.path.join(libgit2_path, 'lib')),
-    )
-
-
-def init_ffi():
-    global C, ffi
-
-    ffi = FFI()
-
-    # Load C definitions
-    dir_path = dirname(abspath(inspect.getfile(inspect.currentframe())))
-    decl_path = os.path.join(dir_path, 'decl.h')
-    with codecs.open(decl_path, 'r', 'utf-8') as header:
-        ffi.cdef(header.read())
-
-    # Load extension module
-    libgit2_bin, libgit2_include, libgit2_lib = get_libgit2_paths()
-    C = ffi.verify("#include <git2.h>", modulename='pygit2_cffi',
-                   libraries=["git2"],
-                   include_dirs=[libgit2_include], library_dirs=[libgit2_lib])
-
-
-init_ffi()
+ffi, C = get_ffi()
diff --git a/pygit2/version.py b/pygit2/version.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 02c5c51..0000000
--- a/pygit2/version.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2010-2014 The pygit2 contributors
-#
-# This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
-# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2,
-# as published by the Free Software Foundation.
-#
-# In addition to the permissions in the GNU General Public License,
-# the authors give you unlimited permission to link the compiled
-# version of this file into combinations with other programs,
-# and to distribute those combinations without any restriction
-# coming from the use of this file.  (The General Public License
-# restrictions do apply in other respects; for example, they cover
-# modification of the file, and distribution when not linked into
-# a combined executable.)
-#
-# This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
-# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
-# General Public License for more details.
-#
-# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-# along with this program; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to
-# the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
-# Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
-
-__version__ = '0.21.3'
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f0d802f..ee8973f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -43,11 +43,9 @@ from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
 import sys
 import unittest
 
-# Read version from local pygit2/version.py without pulling in
-# pygit2/__init__.py
+# Import stuff from pygit2/_utils.py without loading the whole pygit2 package
 sys.path.insert(0, 'pygit2')
-from version import __version__
-import ffi
+from _utils import __version__, get_libgit2_paths, get_ffi
 del sys.path[0]
 
 # Python 2 support
@@ -58,7 +56,7 @@ else:
     u = str
 
 
-libgit2_bin, libgit2_include, libgit2_lib = ffi.get_libgit2_paths()
+libgit2_bin, libgit2_include, libgit2_lib = get_libgit2_paths()
 
 pygit2_exts = [os.path.join('src', name) for name in os.listdir('src')
                if name.endswith('.c')]
@@ -100,7 +98,8 @@ class CFFIBuild(build):
     to add cffi as an extension.
     """
     def finalize_options(self):
-        self.distribution.ext_modules.append(ffi.ffi.verifier.get_extension())
+        ffi, C = get_ffi()
+        self.distribution.ext_modules.append(ffi.verifier.get_extension())
         build.finalize_options(self)