diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index d5b5ea408..565205f03 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
-on:
-  release:
-    types:
-      - published
+on: workflow_dispatch
 
 name: release
 
@@ -24,6 +21,10 @@ jobs:
     - name: build
       run: python -m build
 
+    - name: test
+      run: |
+        tar -xvvf dist/*.tar.gz
+
     - name: sign
       run: |
         # use the latest development changes for sigstore, at least
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c1ce19afa..6407480d7 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools>=61.0.0", "wheel"]
-build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+requires = ["flit_core >=3.2,<4"]
+build-backend = "flit_core.buildapi"
 
 [project]
 name = "sigstore"
diff --git a/sigstore/__init__.py b/sigstore/__init__.py
index 0ec72df7a..b82f6d24f 100644
--- a/sigstore/__init__.py
+++ b/sigstore/__init__.py
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@
 The `sigstore` APIs.
 """
 
-from sigstore._version import __version__
+from ._version import __version__
 
 __all__ = ["__version__"]