diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index 9e00fdce7..1a028553d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -66,3 +66,22 @@ jobs:
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       date: ${{ inputs.date }}
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
+  wheel-build:
+    secrets: inherit
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-23.12
+    with:
+      build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
+      branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
+      sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
+      date: ${{ inputs.date }}
+      script: ci/build_wheel.sh
+  wheel-publish:
+    needs: wheel-build
+    secrets: inherit
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-publish.yaml@branch-23.12
+    with:
+      build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
+      branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
+      sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
+      date: ${{ inputs.date }}
+      package-name: cucim
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
index c1c7b60ff..d098ff326 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ jobs:
       - conda-python-build
       - conda-python-tests
       - docs-build
+      - wheel-build
+      - wheel-tests
     secrets: inherit
     uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/pr-builder.yaml@branch-23.12
   checks:
@@ -50,3 +52,17 @@ jobs:
       arch: "amd64"
       container_image: "rapidsai/ci-conda:latest"
       run_script: "ci/build_docs.sh"
+  wheel-build:
+    needs: checks
+    secrets: inherit
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-23.12
+    with:
+      build_type: pull-request
+      script: ci/build_wheel.sh
+  wheel-tests:
+    needs: wheel-build
+    secrets: inherit
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@branch-23.12
+    with:
+      build_type: pull-request
+      script: ci/test_wheel.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index 9a5e0428a..8ac82418e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -22,3 +22,12 @@ jobs:
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       date: ${{ inputs.date }}
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
+  wheel-tests:
+    secrets: inherit
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@branch-23.12
+    with:
+      build_type: nightly
+      branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
+      date: ${{ inputs.date }}
+      sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
+      script: ci/test_wheel.sh
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 0290c0e8f..e12e83ae3 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ repos:
     rev: 23.10.1
     hooks:
       - id: black
-        files: (python|legate)/.*
         args: ["--config", "python/cucim/pyproject.toml"]
   - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
     rev: v0.1.3
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0ab2e178c..ac1aff40e 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
 # Set VERSION and BUILD
 unset(VERSION CACHE)
 file(STRINGS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/VERSION VERSION)
+# strip alpha version info
+string(REGEX REPLACE "a.*$" "" VERSION ${VERSION})
 set(PROJECT_VERSION_BUILD dev)
 
 # Append local cmake module path
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 16c29fcb6..a05dee929 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -263,19 +263,21 @@ conda install -y -c ${CONDA_BLD_DIR} -c conda-forge \
 
 ## Building a package (for distribution. Including a wheel package for pip)
 
-**Build**
-
-You can execute the following command to build a wheel file for pip.
+**Wheel Build**
 
+If you are using CUDA 12.x, please update pyproject.toml as follows before building the wheel
 ```bash
-./run build_package
+sed -i "s/cupy-cuda11x/cupy-cuda12x/g" python/cucim/pyproject.toml
 ```
+This will switch the CuPy dependency to one based on CUDA 12.x instead of 11.x.
 
-The command would use `./temp` folder as a local build folder and build a distribution package into `dist` folder using [dockcross](https://github.com/dockcross/dockcross)'s manylinux2014 docker image.
+The wheel can then be built using:
 
-`./run build_package` will reuse local `./temp` folder to reduce the build time.
+```bash
+python -m pip wheel python/cucim/ -w dist -vvv --no-deps --disable-pip-version-check
+```
 
-If C++ code or dependent packages are updated so the build is failing somehow, please retry it after deleting the `temp` folder under the repository root.
+**Note:** It is possible to build the wheel in this way even without compiling the C++ library first, but in that case the `cucim.clara` module will not be importable.
 
 **Install**
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index a193fff41..bb94af9dd 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-23.12.00
+23.12.00a56
diff --git a/ci/build_cpp.sh b/ci/build_cpp.sh
index 1cc80d198..b0ef4a446 100755
--- a/ci/build_cpp.sh
+++ b/ci/build_cpp.sh
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ export CMAKE_GENERATOR=Ninja
 
 rapids-print-env
 
+version=$(rapids-generate-version)
+
 rapids-logger "Begin cpp build"
 
-rapids-conda-retry mambabuild conda/recipes/libcucim
+RAPIDS_PACKAGE_VERSION=${version} rapids-conda-retry mambabuild conda/recipes/libcucim
 
 rapids-upload-conda-to-s3 cpp
diff --git a/ci/build_python.sh b/ci/build_python.sh
index ae607aeeb..58d8a8e00 100755
--- a/ci/build_python.sh
+++ b/ci/build_python.sh
@@ -9,13 +9,24 @@ export CMAKE_GENERATOR=Ninja
 
 rapids-print-env
 
+package_name="cucim"
+package_dir="python/cucim"
+package_src_dir="${package_dir}/src/${package_name}"
+
+version=$(rapids-generate-version)
+
+commit=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+
+echo "${version}" > VERSION
+sed -i "/^__git_commit__/ s/= .*/= \"${commit}\"/g" "${package_src_dir}/_version.py"
+
 rapids-logger "Begin py build"
 
 CPP_CHANNEL=$(rapids-download-conda-from-s3 cpp)
 
 # TODO: Remove `--no-test` flag once importing on a CPU
 # node works correctly
-rapids-conda-retry mambabuild \
+RAPIDS_PACKAGE_VERSION=${version} rapids-conda-retry mambabuild \
   --no-test \
   --channel "${CPP_CHANNEL}" \
   conda/recipes/cucim
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel.sh b/ci/build_wheel.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a39ebf502
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/build_wheel.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Copyright (c) 2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+package_name="cucim"
+package_dir="python/cucim"
+package_src_dir="${package_dir}/src/${package_name}"
+
+CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="release"
+
+source rapids-configure-sccache
+source rapids-date-string
+
+version=$(rapids-generate-version)
+commit=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+
+RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen ${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION})"
+
+# Patch project metadata files to include the CUDA version suffix and version override.
+pyproject_file="${package_dir}/pyproject.toml"
+
+PACKAGE_CUDA_SUFFIX="-${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}"
+# update package name to have the cuda suffix
+sed -i "s/name = \"${package_name}\"/name = \"${package_name}${PACKAGE_CUDA_SUFFIX}\"/g" ${pyproject_file}
+echo "${version}" > VERSION
+sed -i "/^__git_commit__/ s/= .*/= \"${commit}\"/g" "${package_src_dir}/_version.py"
+
+if [[ ${PACKAGE_CUDA_SUFFIX} == "-cu12" ]]; then
+    # change pyproject.toml to use CUDA 12.x version of cupy
+    sed -i "s/cupy-cuda11x/cupy-cuda12x/g" ${pyproject_file}
+fi
+
+# Install pip build dependencies (not yet using pyproject.toml)
+rapids-dependency-file-generator \
+  --file_key "py_build" \
+  --output "requirements" \
+  --matrix "cuda=${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION%.*};arch=$(arch);py=${RAPIDS_PY_VERSION}" | tee build_requirements.txt
+pip install -r build_requirements.txt
+
+# First build the C++ lib using CMake via the run script
+./run build_local all ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
+
+cd "${package_dir}"
+
+python -m pip wheel . -w dist -vvv --no-deps --disable-pip-version-check
+
+mkdir -p final_dist
+python -m auditwheel repair -w final_dist dist/*
+
+RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="${package_name}_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-upload-wheels-to-s3 final_dist
diff --git a/ci/release/update-version.sh b/ci/release/update-version.sh
index 37cee5a67..3669c2dda 100755
--- a/ci/release/update-version.sh
+++ b/ci/release/update-version.sh
@@ -34,12 +34,9 @@ function sed_runner() {
 sed_runner 's/version = .*/version = '"'${NEXT_SHORT_TAG}'"'/g' docs/source/conf.py
 sed_runner 's/release = .*/release = '"'${NEXT_FULL_TAG}'"'/g' docs/source/conf.py
 
-sed_runner "s/^version = .*/version = \"${NEXT_FULL_TAG}\"/g" python/cucim/pyproject.toml
-sed_runner "s/${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}/${NEXT_FULL_TAG}/g" VERSION
-sed_runner "s/${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}/${NEXT_FULL_TAG}/g" python/cucim/VERSION
-sed_runner "s/__version__ = .*/__version__ = \"${NEXT_FULL_TAG}\"/g" python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.pyi
-sed_runner "s/${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}/${NEXT_FULL_TAG}/g" cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/VERSION
-sed_runner "s/${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}/${NEXT_FULL_TAG}/g" cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/VERSION
+# Centralized version file update
+echo "${NEXT_FULL_TAG}" > VERSION
+
 sed_runner "s#\[Version ${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}\](release_notes/v${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}.md)#\[Version ${NEXT_FULL_TAG}\](release_notes/v${NEXT_FULL_TAG}.md)#g" python/cucim/docs/index.md
 sed_runner "s/v${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}/v${NEXT_FULL_TAG}/g" python/cucim/docs/getting_started/index.md
 sed_runner "s#cucim.kit.cuslide@${CURRENT_LONG_TAG}.so#cucim.kit.cuslide@${NEXT_FULL_TAG}.so#g" python/cucim/docs/getting_started/index.md
diff --git a/ci/test_wheel.sh b/ci/test_wheel.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..2fe2c1fb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/test_wheel.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Copyright (c) 2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+
+set -eou pipefail
+
+RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen ${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION})"
+RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="cucim_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 ./dist
+
+# echo to expand wildcard before adding `[extra]` requires for pip
+python -m pip install $(echo ./dist/cucim*.whl)[test]
+
+# Run smoke tests for aarch64 pull requests
+if [[ "$(arch)" == "aarch64" && ${RAPIDS_BUILD_TYPE} == "pull-request" ]]; then
+    python ./ci/wheel_smoke_test.py
+else
+    # TODO: revisit enabling imagecodecs package during testing
+    python -m pytest ./python/cucim
+fi
diff --git a/ci/wheel_smoke_test.py b/ci/wheel_smoke_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e86a8888e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/wheel_smoke_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import cupy as cp
+
+import cucim
+import cucim.skimage
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # verify that all top-level modules are available
+    assert cucim.is_available("clara")
+    assert cucim.is_available("core")
+    assert cucim.is_available("skimage")
+
+    # generate a synthetic image and apply a filter
+    img = cucim.skimage.data.binary_blobs(length=512, n_dim=2)
+    assert isinstance(img, cp.ndarray)
+    assert img.dtype.kind == "b"
+    assert img.shape == (512, 512)
+
+    eroded = cucim.skimage.morphology.binary_erosion(
+        img, cp.ones((3, 3), dtype=bool)
+    )
diff --git a/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml b/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
index 19d15f9a6..c038513af 100644
--- a/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
+++ b/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ dependencies:
 - libnvjpeg-dev=11.6.0.55
 - libnvjpeg=11.6.0.55
 - libwebp-base
+- matplotlib-base
 - nbsphinx
 - ninja
 - numpy>=1.21.3
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ dependencies:
 - nvcc_linux-64=11.8
 - openslide-python>=1.1.2
 - pip
+- pooch>=1.6.0
 - pre-commit
 - psutil>=5.8.0
 - pydata-sphinx-theme
diff --git a/conda/environments/all_cuda-120_arch-x86_64.yaml b/conda/environments/all_cuda-120_arch-x86_64.yaml
index 982a2c627..18f61bf9f 100644
--- a/conda/environments/all_cuda-120_arch-x86_64.yaml
+++ b/conda/environments/all_cuda-120_arch-x86_64.yaml
@@ -24,12 +24,14 @@ dependencies:
 - libnvjpeg-dev
 - libnvjpeg-static
 - libwebp-base
+- matplotlib-base
 - nbsphinx
 - ninja
 - numpy>=1.21.3
 - numpydoc
 - openslide-python>=1.1.2
 - pip
+- pooch>=1.6.0
 - pre-commit
 - psutil>=5.8.0
 - pydata-sphinx-theme
diff --git a/conda/recipes/cucim/meta.yaml b/conda/recipes/cucim/meta.yaml
index 609ca09c5..dbb34a906 100644
--- a/conda/recipes/cucim/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda/recipes/cucim/meta.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2021-2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 
-{% set version = environ.get('GIT_DESCRIBE_TAG', '0.0.0.dev').lstrip('v') %}
+{% set version = environ['RAPIDS_PACKAGE_VERSION'].lstrip('v') %}
 {% set py_version = environ['CONDA_PY'] %}
 {% set cuda_version = '.'.join(environ['RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION'].split('.')[:2]) %}
 {% set cuda_major = cuda_version.split('.')[0] %}
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ package:
   version: {{ version }}
 
 source:
-  git_url: ../../..
+  path: ../../..
 
 build:
   number: {{ GIT_DESCRIBE_NUMBER }}
diff --git a/conda/recipes/libcucim/meta.yaml b/conda/recipes/libcucim/meta.yaml
index 4140bbf1d..666a56d90 100644
--- a/conda/recipes/libcucim/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda/recipes/libcucim/meta.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2021-2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 
-{% set version = environ.get('GIT_DESCRIBE_TAG', '0.0.0.dev').lstrip('v') %}
+{% set version = environ['RAPIDS_PACKAGE_VERSION'].lstrip('v') %}
 {% set cuda_version = '.'.join(environ['RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION'].split('.')[:2]) %}
 {% set cuda_major = cuda_version.split('.')[0] %}
 {% set date_string = environ['RAPIDS_DATE_STRING'] %}
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ package:
   version: {{ version }}
 
 source:
-  git_url: ../../..
+  path: ../../..
 
 build:
   number: {{ GIT_DESCRIBE_NUMBER }}
diff --git a/cpp/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake b/cpp/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake
index 651acd5ff..8e44e33a5 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ if (NOT TARGET deps::openslide)
         set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH "$ENV{CONDA_PREFIX}/lib/libopenslide.so")
     elseif (EXISTS /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
         set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
-    else () # CentOS 6
+    elseif (EXISTS /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
+        set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
+    else () # CentOS (x86_64)
         set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH /usr/lib64/libopenslide.so)
     endif ()
 
diff --git a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/CMakeLists.txt
index 4073ecfd5..dc775742d 100644
--- a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
 
 # Set VERSION
 unset(VERSION CACHE)
-file(STRINGS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/VERSION VERSION)
+file(STRINGS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../../../VERSION VERSION)
+# strip alpha version info
+string(REGEX REPLACE "a.*$" "" VERSION ${VERSION})
 
 # Append local cmake module path
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/cmake/modules")
diff --git a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/VERSION b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index a193fff41..000000000
--- a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cumed/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-23.12.00
diff --git a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/CMakeLists.txt
index 37dbca4f7..047b5ee61 100644
--- a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
 
 # Set VERSION
 unset(VERSION CACHE)
-file(STRINGS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/VERSION VERSION)
+file(STRINGS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../../../VERSION VERSION)
+# strip alpha version info
+string(REGEX REPLACE "a.*$" "" VERSION ${VERSION})
 
 # Append local cmake module path
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/cmake/modules")
diff --git a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/VERSION b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index a193fff41..000000000
--- a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-23.12.00
diff --git a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake
index 651acd5ff..8e44e33a5 100644
--- a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake
+++ b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/cmake/deps/openslide.cmake
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ if (NOT TARGET deps::openslide)
         set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH "$ENV{CONDA_PREFIX}/lib/libopenslide.so")
     elseif (EXISTS /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
         set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
-    else () # CentOS 6
+    elseif (EXISTS /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
+        set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libopenslide.so)
+    else () # CentOS (x86_64)
         set(OPENSLIDE_LIB_PATH /usr/lib64/libopenslide.so)
     endif ()
 
diff --git a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/src/cuslide/jpeg2k/gen_color_table.py b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/src/cuslide/jpeg2k/gen_color_table.py
index 9f442af7c..9d9de21f3 100644
--- a/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/src/cuslide/jpeg2k/gen_color_table.py
+++ b/cpp/plugins/cucim.kit.cuslide/src/cuslide/jpeg2k/gen_color_table.py
@@ -177,8 +177,12 @@ def gen_b_cb():
 def gen_list(values: list, width: int, align: int = 8):
     text = []
     for i in range(0, len(values), width):
-        text.append(", ".join(("{:>"+str(align)+"}").format(item)
-                              for item in values[i:i + width]))
+        text.append(
+            ", ".join(
+                ("{:>" + str(align) + "}").format(item)
+                for item in values[i : i + width]
+            )
+        )
     return ",\n    ".join(text)
 
 
@@ -189,14 +193,16 @@ def main(output_file_name: str) -> int:
     b_cb = gen_list(list(gen_b_cb()), 10, 4)
 
     with open(output_file_name, "w") as f:
-        f.write(TEMPLATE %
-                {"r_cr": r_cr, "g_cb": g_cb, "g_cr": g_cr, "b_cb": b_cb})
+        f.write(
+            TEMPLATE % {"r_cr": r_cr, "g_cb": g_cb, "g_cr": g_cr, "b_cb": b_cb}
+        )
 
     return 0
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     import sys
+
     if len(sys.argv) != 2:
         print("Usage: gen_color_table.py <output_file_name>")
         sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index fddf3add9..b7ceeef02 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -245,32 +245,27 @@ dependencies:
       - output_types: [conda, requirements, pyproject]
         packages:
           - GPUtil>=1.4.0
-          - imagecodecs>=2021.6.8
-          - openslide-python>=1.1.2
           - psutil>=5.8.0
           - pytest-cov>=2.12.1
           - pytest-lazy-fixture>=0.6.3
           - pytest-xdist
           - pytest>=6.2.4
           - tifffile>=2022.7.28
+          - pooch>=1.6.0  # needed to download scikit-image sample data
       - output_types: [conda]
         packages:
+          - imagecodecs>=2021.6.8
+          - matplotlib-base
+          - openslide-python>=1.1.2
           - pip
           - pip:
             - opencv-python-headless>=4.6
       - output_types: [requirements, pyproject]
         packages:
+          # temporarily remove imagecodecs / openslide-python from wheel tests
+          # # skip packages on arm64 that don't provide a wheel
+          # - imagecodecs>=2021.6.8; platform_machine=='x86_64'
+          # - openslide-python>=1.1.2; platform_machine=='x86_64'
+          - matplotlib
           - opencv-python-headless>=4.6
-          # All dependencies below this point are specific to `cucim.clara` and
-          # are not needed for either `cucim.core` or `cucim.skimage`, so are
-          # listed as optional. They are needed in order to run the full test
-          # suite, including the `cucim.clara` package.
           - click
-          - jbig
-          - libwebp-base
-          - xz
-          - zlib
-          - zstd
-          # Not sure where these go, if anywhere:
-          # - openslide
-          # - xorg-libxcb
diff --git a/python/CMakeLists.txt b/python/CMakeLists.txt
index 2a3277457..adbbde7e9 100644
--- a/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
 # Set VERSION
 unset(VERSION CACHE)
 file(STRINGS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../VERSION VERSION)
+# strip alpha version info
+string(REGEX REPLACE "a.*$" "" VERSION ${VERSION})
 
 # Append local cmake module path
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/cmake/modules")
diff --git a/python/cucim/VERSION b/python/cucim/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index a193fff41..000000000
--- a/python/cucim/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-23.12.00
diff --git a/python/cucim/pyproject.toml b/python/cucim/pyproject.toml
index 8af8dca84..1136ee877 100644
--- a/python/cucim/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/cucim/pyproject.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ requires = [
 
 [project]
 name = "cucim"
-version = "23.12.00"
+dynamic = ["version"]
 description = "cuCIM - an extensible toolkit designed to provide GPU accelerated I/O, computer vision & image processing primitives for N-Dimensional images with a focus on biomedical imaging."
 # TODO: tried also adding CHANGELOG.md as in setup.py's long_description, but ruff complained about it
 readme = { file = "README.md", content-type = "text/markdown" }
@@ -62,20 +62,15 @@ Tracker = "https://github.com/rapidsai/cucim/issues"
 test = [
     "GPUtil>=1.4.0",
     "click",
-    "imagecodecs>=2021.6.8",
-    "jbig",
-    "libwebp-base",
+    "matplotlib",
     "opencv-python-headless>=4.6",
-    "openslide-python>=1.1.2",
+    "pooch>=1.6.0",
     "psutil>=5.8.0",
     "pytest-cov>=2.12.1",
     "pytest-lazy-fixture>=0.6.3",
     "pytest-xdist",
     "pytest>=6.2.4",
     "tifffile>=2022.7.28",
-    "xz",
-    "zlib",
-    "zstd",
 ] # This list was generated by `rapids-dependency-file-generator`. To make changes, edit ../../dependencies.yaml and run `rapids-dependency-file-generator`.
 developer = [
     "black",
@@ -97,15 +92,16 @@ cucim = "cucim.clara.cli:main"
 
 [tool.setuptools]
 license-files = ["LICENSE"]
-# By default, include-package-data is true in pyproject.toml, so you do
-# NOT have to specify this line.
 include-package-data = true
 
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {file = "src/cucim/VERSION"}
+
 [tool.setuptools.packages.find]
 where = ["src"]
 
 [tool.setuptools.package-data]
-mypkg = ["*.pyi", "*.h", "*.cu"]
+mypkg = ["*.pyi", "*.h", "*.cu", "VERSION"]
 
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 # If a pytest section is found in one of the possible config files
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/VERSION b/python/cucim/src/cucim/VERSION
new file mode 120000
index 000000000..a4e948506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../../../VERSION
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.py b/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.py
index ed21dc97d..b655754be 100644
--- a/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.py
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@
 submodules = []
 submod_attrs = {}
 
+from ._version import __git_commit__, __version__
+
 try:
     import cupy
 
@@ -49,18 +51,13 @@
     pass
 
 try:
-    from .clara import CuImage, __version__, cli
+    from .clara import CuImage, cli
 
     _is_clara_available = True
     submodules += ["clara"]
     submod_attrs["clara"] = ["CuImage", "cli"]
 except ImportError:
-    from ._version import get_versions
-
-    __version__ = get_versions()["version"]
-    del get_versions
-    del _version
-
+    pass
 
 import lazy_loader as lazy
 
@@ -68,7 +65,7 @@
 
 
 def __dir__():
-    return __lazy_dir__() + ["__version__", "is_available"]
+    return __lazy_dir__() + ["__git_commit__", "__version__", "is_available"]
 
 
 def is_available(module_name: str = "") -> bool:
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.pyi b/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.pyi
index 8c7b467f9..646c41b65 100644
--- a/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.pyi
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/__init__.pyi
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 
+from ._version import __git_commit__, __version__
+
 submodules = []
 
 try:
@@ -25,11 +27,15 @@ except ImportError:
     pass
 
 try:
-    from .clara import CuImage, __version__, cli  # noqa: F401
+    from .clara import CuImage, cli  # noqa: F401
 
     _is_clara_available = True
     submodules += ["clara"]
 except ImportError:
-    __version__ = "23.12.00"
+    pass
 
-__all__ = submodules + ["__version__", "is_available"]  # noqa: F822
+__all__ = submodules + [  # noqa: F822
+    "__git_commit__",
+    "__version__",
+    "is_available",
+]
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/_version.py b/python/cucim/src/cucim/_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9abb33848
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import importlib.resources
+
+__version__ = (
+    importlib.resources.files("cucim").joinpath("VERSION").read_text().strip()
+)
+__git_commit__ = ""
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/clara/__init__.py b/python/cucim/src/cucim/clara/__init__.py
index 4c9fea2f6..537d6b064 100644
--- a/python/cucim/src/cucim/clara/__init__.py
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/clara/__init__.py
@@ -18,15 +18,7 @@
 from . import cli, converter
 
 # import hidden methods
-from ._cucim import (
-    CuImage,
-    DLDataType,
-    DLDataTypeCode,
-    __version__,
-    cache,
-    filesystem,
-    io,
-)
+from ._cucim import CuImage, DLDataType, DLDataTypeCode, cache, filesystem, io
 
 __all__ = [
     "cli",
@@ -37,7 +29,6 @@
     "io",
     "cache",
     "converter",
-    "__version__",
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/measure/tests/test_blur_effect.py b/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/measure/tests/test_blur_effect.py
index 1fe103b9c..8b4afe337 100644
--- a/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/measure/tests/test_blur_effect.py
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/measure/tests/test_blur_effect.py
@@ -46,8 +46,12 @@ def test_blur_effect_channel_axis():
 
 def test_blur_effect_3d():
     """Test that the blur metric works on a 3D image."""
-    cells3d = pytest.importorskip("skimage.data.cells3d")
-    image_3d = cp.array(cells3d()[:, 1, :, :])  # grab just the nuclei
+    data = pytest.importorskip("skimage.data")
+    if not hasattr(data, "cells3d"):
+        pytest.skip(
+            "cells3d data not available in this version of scikit-image"
+        )
+    image_3d = cp.array(data.cells3d()[:, 1, :, :])  # grab just the nuclei
     B0 = blur_effect(image_3d)
     B1 = blur_effect(gaussian(image_3d, sigma=1))
     B2 = blur_effect(gaussian(image_3d, sigma=4))
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/registration/tests/test_masked_phase_cross_correlation.py b/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/registration/tests/test_masked_phase_cross_correlation.py
index e83c638fa..79c0c8255 100644
--- a/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/registration/tests/test_masked_phase_cross_correlation.py
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/registration/tests/test_masked_phase_cross_correlation.py
@@ -75,8 +75,10 @@ def test_masked_registration_random_masks():
 def test_masked_registration_3d_contiguous_mask():
     """masked_register_translation should be able to register translations
     between volumes with contiguous masks."""
-    brain = pytest.importorskip("skimage.data.brain")
-    ref_vol = cp.array(brain()[:, ::2, ::2])
+    data = pytest.importorskip("skimage.data")
+    if not hasattr(data, "brain"):
+        pytest.skip("brain data not available in this version of scikit-image")
+    ref_vol = cp.array(data.brain()[:, ::2, ::2])
 
     offset = (1, -5, 10)
 
diff --git a/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/transform/tests/test_warps.py b/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/transform/tests/test_warps.py
index 22a5aad60..403cc12ea 100644
--- a/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/transform/tests/test_warps.py
+++ b/python/cucim/src/cucim/skimage/transform/tests/test_warps.py
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ def shift(xy):
     assert_array_almost_equal(outx, refx)
 
 
-@cp.testing.with_requires("cupy>=9.0.0b2")
 def test_warp_matrix():
     x = cp.zeros((5, 5), dtype=cp.float64)
     x[2, 2] = 1
@@ -116,7 +115,6 @@ def test_warp_nd():
         assert_array_almost_equal(outx, refx)
 
 
-@cp.testing.with_requires("cupy>=9.0.0b2")
 def test_warp_clip():
     x = cp.zeros((5, 5), dtype=cp.float64)
     x[2, 2] = 1
@@ -573,7 +571,6 @@ def test_warp_identity():
     assert cp.all(0 == warped_rgb_img[:, :, 1])
 
 
-@cp.testing.with_requires("cupy>=9.0.0b2")
 def test_warp_coords_example():
     image = cp.array(astronaut().astype(cp.float32))
     assert 3 == image.shape[2]
diff --git a/python/cucim/tests/performance/clara/test_read_region_memory_usage.py b/python/cucim/tests/performance/clara/test_read_region_memory_usage.py
index a0137444c..12aacab1a 100644
--- a/python/cucim/tests/performance/clara/test_read_region_memory_usage.py
+++ b/python/cucim/tests/performance/clara/test_read_region_memory_usage.py
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 
 from ...util.io import open_image_cucim
 
+# skip if imagecodecs package not available (needed by ImageGenerator utility)
+pytest.importorskip("imagecodecs")
+
 
 def test_read_region_cuda_memleak(testimg_tiff_stripe_4096x4096_256_jpeg):
     import GPUtil
diff --git a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/converter/test_converter.py b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/converter/test_converter.py
index 6e54640ea..8198e78f7 100644
--- a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/converter/test_converter.py
+++ b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/converter/test_converter.py
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
+import pytest
+
+# skip if imagecodecs and openslide packages are not available
+pytest.importorskip("imagecodecs")
+pytest.importorskip("openslide")
+
 
 def test_image_converter_stripe_4096x4096_256_jpeg(
     tmp_path, testimg_tiff_stripe_4096x4096_256_jpeg
diff --git a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_image_cache.py b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_image_cache.py
index f6f7d199f..1b8987765 100644
--- a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_image_cache.py
+++ b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_image_cache.py
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 
+import pytest
+
+# skip if imagecodecs package not available (needed by ImageGenerator utility)
+pytest.importorskip("imagecodecs")
+
 
 def test_get_nocache():
     from cucim import CuImage
diff --git a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_load_image_metadata.py b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_load_image_metadata.py
index 971e4e171..cc434c4bd 100644
--- a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_load_image_metadata.py
+++ b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_load_image_metadata.py
@@ -15,8 +15,13 @@
 
 import math
 
+import pytest
+
 from ...util.io import open_image_cucim
 
+# skip if imagecodecs package not available (needed by ImageGenerator utility)
+pytest.importorskip("imagecodecs")
+
 
 def test_load_image_metadata(testimg_tiff_stripe_32x24_16):
     import numpy as np
diff --git a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_tiff_read_region.py b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_tiff_read_region.py
index 5b122fb50..f379847a5 100644
--- a/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_tiff_read_region.py
+++ b/python/cucim/tests/unit/clara/test_tiff_read_region.py
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 
 from ...util.io import open_image_cucim
 
+# skip if imagecodecs package not available (needed by ImageGenerator utility)
+pytest.importorskip("imagecodecs")
+
 
 def test_tiff_stripe_inner(testimg_tiff_stripe_32x24_16):
     cucim_img = open_image_cucim(testimg_tiff_stripe_32x24_16)