diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs.yml b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
index 954ea4be3..a8de1f700 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
@@ -10,13 +10,16 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout this repo
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
+      - name: Install and build rdme deps
+        run: npm ci && npm run build
+
       # Let's dynamically update our docs with the latest version of rdme!
       # Note that these next three steps are not required
       # in order to sync your docs to ReadMe.
 
       # First, we run a script that sets a few outputs:
       # our package version and our Node.js version.
-      - name: Retrieve version values from package.json
+      - name: Retrieve version values
         id: rdme-version
         run: ./bin/set-version-output
 
diff --git a/__tests__/helpers/get-gha-setup.ts b/__tests__/helpers/get-gha-setup.ts
index 406589f6c..7d49e8c60 100644
--- a/__tests__/helpers/get-gha-setup.ts
+++ b/__tests__/helpers/get-gha-setup.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ import type { Response } from 'simple-git';
 import fs from 'fs';
 
 import configstore from '../../src/lib/configstore';
-import * as createGHAObject from '../../src/lib/createGHA';
 import { git } from '../../src/lib/createGHA';
+import * as getPkgVersion from '../../src/lib/getPkgVersion';
 
 import getGitRemoteMock from './get-git-mock';
 
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ export function before(writeFileSyncCb) {
 
   process.env.TEST_CREATEGHA = 'true';
 
-  const spy = jest.spyOn(createGHAObject, 'getPkgVersion');
-  spy.mockReturnValue('7.8.9');
+  const spy = jest.spyOn(getPkgVersion, 'getPkgVersion');
+  spy.mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve('7.8.9'));
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/__tests__/lib/createGHA.test.ts b/__tests__/lib/createGHA.test.ts
index 1b987874e..45a15de1c 100644
--- a/__tests__/lib/createGHA.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/lib/createGHA.test.ts
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ import createGHA, {
   getConfigStoreKey,
   getGHAFileName,
   getGitData,
+  getMajorRdmeVersion,
   git,
-  rdmeVersionMajor,
 } from '../../src/lib/createGHA';
 import { after, before } from '../helpers/get-gha-setup';
 import getGitRemoteMock from '../helpers/get-git-mock';
@@ -127,13 +127,13 @@ describe('#createGHA', () => {
         expect(fs.writeFileSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(getGHAFileName(fileName), expect.any(String));
       });
 
-      it('should run if user is on an outdated package version', () => {
+      it('should run if user is on an outdated package version', async () => {
         const fileName = `rdme-${cmd}`;
         prompts.inject([true, 'some-branch', fileName]);
 
         const repoRoot = process.cwd();
 
-        configstore.set(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot), rdmeVersionMajor - 1);
+        configstore.set(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot), (await getMajorRdmeVersion()) - 1);
 
         return expect(createGHA('', cmd, command.args, opts)).resolves.toMatch(
           'Your GitHub Actions workflow file has been created!'
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ describe('#createGHA', () => {
           )
         );
 
-        expect(configstore.get(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot))).toBe(rdmeVersionMajor);
+        expect(configstore.get(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot))).toBe(await getMajorRdmeVersion());
       });
 
       it('should not run if not a repo', () => {
@@ -169,10 +169,10 @@ describe('#createGHA', () => {
         return expect(createGHA('success!', cmd, command.args, opts)).resolves.toBe('success!');
       });
 
-      it('should not run if user previously declined to set up GHA for current directory + pkg version', () => {
+      it('should not run if user previously declined to set up GHA for current directory + pkg version', async () => {
         const repoRoot = process.cwd();
 
-        configstore.set(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot), rdmeVersionMajor);
+        configstore.set(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot), await getMajorRdmeVersion());
 
         return expect(createGHA('success!', cmd, command.args, opts)).resolves.toBe('success!');
       });
diff --git a/bin/set-version-output b/bin/set-version-output
index d7fa534a1..b9b863772 100755
--- a/bin/set-version-output
+++ b/bin/set-version-output
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env node
-const pkg = require('../package.json');
+const { getPkgVersion } = require('../dist/src/lib/getPkgVersion');
 const getNodeVersion = require('../src/lib/getNodeVersion');
 
 const name1 = 'RDME_VERSION';
@@ -9,5 +9,9 @@ const name2 = 'NODE_VERSION';
  * Sets output parameters for GitHub Actions workflow
  * Docs: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-commands-for-github-actions#setting-an-output-parameter
  */
-console.log(`::set-output name=${name1}::${pkg.version}`); // eslint-disable-line no-console
-console.log(`::set-output name=${name2}::${getNodeVersion()}`); // eslint-disable-line no-console
+async function setOutputs() {
+  console.log(`::set-output name=${name1}::${await getPkgVersion('latest')}`); // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  console.log(`::set-output name=${name2}::${getNodeVersion()}`); // eslint-disable-line no-console
+}
+
+setOutputs();
diff --git a/src/lib/createGHA/index.ts b/src/lib/createGHA/index.ts
index 9e832c6bb..ae728a889 100644
--- a/src/lib/createGHA/index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/createGHA/index.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ import simpleGit from 'simple-git';
 
 import { transcludeString } from 'hercule/promises';
 
-import pkg from '../../../package.json';
 import configstore from '../configstore';
+import { getPkgVersion } from '../getPkgVersion';
 import isCI from '../isCI';
 import { debug } from '../logger';
 import promptTerminal from '../promptWrapper';
@@ -35,22 +35,12 @@ export const getConfigStoreKey = (repoRoot: string) => `createGHA.${repoRoot}`;
 const GITHUB_WORKFLOW_DIR = '.github/workflows';
 const GITHUB_SECRET_NAME = 'README_API_KEY';
 
-/**
- * The current `rdme` version
- *
- * @example "8.0.0"
- * @note the reason why this is a function is
- * because we want to mock it for our snapshots.
- * @see {@link https://stackoverflow.com/a/54245672}
- */
-export const getPkgVersion = () => pkg.version;
-
 /**
  * The current major `rdme` version
  *
  * @example 8
  */
-export const rdmeVersionMajor = semverMajor(getPkgVersion());
+export const getMajorRdmeVersion = async () => semverMajor(await getPkgVersion());
 
 export const git = simpleGit();
 
@@ -186,6 +176,9 @@ export default async function createGHA(
   const configVal = configstore.get(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot));
   debug(`repo value in config: ${configVal}`);
 
+  const majorPkgVersion = await getMajorRdmeVersion();
+  debug(`major pkg version: ${majorPkgVersion}`);
+
   if (!opts.github) {
     if (
       // not a repo
@@ -193,7 +186,7 @@ export default async function createGHA(
       // in a CI environment
       isCI() ||
       // user has previously declined to set up GHA for current repo and `rdme` package version
-      configVal === rdmeVersionMajor ||
+      configVal === majorPkgVersion ||
       // is a repo, but only contains non-GitHub remotes
       (isRepo && containsNonGitHubRemote && !containsGitHubRemote) ||
       // not testing this function
@@ -287,7 +280,7 @@ export default async function createGHA(
   if (!shouldCreateGHA) {
     // if the user says no, we don't want to bug them again
     // for this repo and version of `rdme
-    configstore.set(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot), rdmeVersionMajor);
+    configstore.set(getConfigStoreKey(repoRoot), majorPkgVersion);
     throw new Error(
       'GitHub Actions workflow creation cancelled. If you ever change your mind, you can run this command again with the `--github` flag.'
     );
@@ -298,7 +291,7 @@ export default async function createGHA(
     cleanCommand: cleanFileName(command),
     command,
     commandString: constructCmdString(command, args, opts),
-    rdmeVersion: getPkgVersion(),
+    rdmeVersion: await getPkgVersion(),
     timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
   };
 
diff --git a/src/lib/getPkgVersion.ts b/src/lib/getPkgVersion.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5e4bfcc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/getPkgVersion.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import fetch from 'node-fetch';
+
+import pkg from '../../package.json';
+
+const registryUrl = 'https://registry.npmjs.com/rdme';
+
+/**
+ * The current `rdme` version
+ *
+ * @param npmDistTag the `npm` dist tag to retrieve. If this value is omitted,
+ * the version from the `package.json` is returned.
+ * @example "8.0.0"
+ * @see {@link https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/dist-tag}
+ * @note we mock this function in our snapshots
+ * @see {@link https://stackoverflow.com/a/54245672}
+ */
+export async function getPkgVersion(npmDistTag?: 'latest' | 'next'): Promise<string> {
+  if (npmDistTag) {
+    return fetch(registryUrl)
+      .then(res => res.json())
+      .then(body => body['dist-tags'][npmDistTag])
+      .catch(() => {
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+        console.error('error fetching version from npm registry');
+        return pkg.version;
+      });
+  }
+  return pkg.version;
+}