diff --git a/HACKING.md b/HACKING.md
index f5d770d0a..e7e53a753 100644
--- a/HACKING.md
+++ b/HACKING.md
@@ -32,14 +32,7 @@ locally (see [testing README](test/README.md)), you will need additional header
 files and other components. The following should work in a fresh Git clone:
 
     $ sudo dnf install dnf-utils python-srpm-macros
-    $ TEMPFILE=$(mktemp -u --suffix=.spec) && \
-      ./tools/create-spec --version 1 -o "$TEMPFILE" tools/cockpit.spec.in && \
-      sudo dnf builddep --spec "$TEMPFILE" &&
-      rm "$TEMPFILE"
-
-Note that `tools/cockpit.spec.in` is a template filled in by
-`tools/create-spec` when building RPMs, and cannot be directly parsed
-by dnf.
+    $ sudo dnf builddep --spec tools/cockpit.spec
 
 For running the browser unit tests, the following dependencies are required:
 
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 9d9e6ac37..060794bff 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ distdir: $(DISTFILES)
 		mv .extra_dist.tmp '$(srcdir)/.extra_dist'; fi
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) distdir-am EXTRA_FILES="$$(tr '\n' ' ' < $(srcdir)/.extra_dist) .extra_dist"
 	test ! -x $(srcdir)/src/client/add-metainfo-releases || $(srcdir)/src/client/add-metainfo-releases --version '$(VERSION)' '$(distdir)'/src/client/*.metainfo.xml
+	sed -i "/^Version:/ s/0/$(VERSION)/" "$(distdir)/tools/cockpit.spec"
 	$(srcdir)/tools/adjust-distdir-timestamps "$(distdir)"
 	@echo '  DIST     $(DIST_ARCHIVES)'
 
@@ -46,10 +47,6 @@ dist-hook: $(distdir)/tools/arch/PKGBUILD
 $(distdir)/tools/arch/PKGBUILD: $(distdir)/tools/arch/PKGBUILD.in
 	$(AM_V_GEN) sed "s/VERSION/$(VERSION)/" $< > $@
 
-dist-hook: $(distdir)/tools/cockpit.spec
-$(distdir)/tools/cockpit.spec: $(distdir)/tools/cockpit.spec.in
-	$(AM_V_GEN) $(srcdir)/tools/create-spec --version "$(VERSION)" -o $@ $<
-
 dist-hook: $(distdir)/tools/debian/changelog
 $(distdir)/tools/debian/changelog: $(distdir)/tools/debian/changelog.in
 	$(AM_V_GEN) sed "s/VERSION/$(VERSION)/" $< > $@
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index ae93241f5..36f2a99d0 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -15,10 +15,8 @@ srcdir="${0%/*}"
 case "${1:-}" in
     rpm)
         # configure with the same flags as when building an RPM
-        mkdir -p tmp/rpmbuild/SPECS
-        tools/create-spec -v 0 -o tmp/rpmbuild/SPECS/cockpit.spec tools/cockpit.spec.in
         exec rpmbuild -D '_topdir tmp/rpmbuild' -D 'make_build #' \
-            --build-in-place -bc tmp/rpmbuild/SPECS/cockpit.spec ;;
+            --build-in-place -bc tools/cockpit.spec ;;
 
     *)
         exec "${srcdir}/configure" "$@" ;;
diff --git a/packit.yaml b/packit.yaml
index fa18b9c7d..33c1e64f7 100644
--- a/packit.yaml
+++ b/packit.yaml
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 upstream_project_url: https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit
+# HACK: spec must be next to the generated tarball; https://github.com/packit/packit/issues/1621
+specfile_path: cockpit.spec
 actions:
   post-upstream-clone:
-    # packit will overwrite the version in its "fix spec file" stage
-    - tools/create-spec --version 0 -o cockpit.spec tools/cockpit.spec.in
+    # HACK: spec must be next to the generated tarball; https://github.com/packit/packit/issues/1621
+    - cp tools/cockpit.spec .
     # HACK: until FMF uses tests from dist-git source tarball: https://github.com/teemtee/tmt/issues/585
     - sh -exc 'mkdir -p tmp; curl --silent --fail https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/cockpit/raw/rawhide/f/plans/upstream.fmf | sed -r "/ref:/ s/[0-9.]+/$(git describe --abbrev=0)/" > tmp/upstream.fmf'
 
@@ -65,10 +67,10 @@ jobs:
       - centos-stream-9-x86_64
     actions:
       post-upstream-clone:
+        # HACK: spec must be next to the generated tarball; https://github.com/packit/packit/issues/1621
+        - cp tools/cockpit.spec .
         # HACK: https://github.com/packit/packit/issues/1560
         - tools/node-modules checkout
-        # packit will overwrite the version in its "fix spec file" stage
-        - tools/create-spec --version 0 -o cockpit.spec tools/cockpit.spec.in
       # HACK: tarball for releases (copr_build, koji, etc.), copying spec's Source0; this
       # really should be the default, see https://github.com/packit/packit-service/issues/1505
       create-archive:
diff --git a/tools/cockpit.spec.in b/tools/cockpit.spec
similarity index 99%
rename from tools/cockpit.spec.in
rename to tools/cockpit.spec
index 11f3cce2e..38abc2d2f 100644
--- a/tools/cockpit.spec.in
+++ b/tools/cockpit.spec
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ Summary:        Web Console for Linux servers
 License:        LGPLv2+
 URL:            https://cockpit-project.org/
 
-Version:        @VERSION@
+Version:        0
 Release:        1%{?dist}
 Source0:        https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/releases/download/%{version}/cockpit-%{version}.tar.xz
 
diff --git a/tools/create-spec b/tools/create-spec
deleted file mode 100755
index 113e0a0ee..000000000
--- a/tools/create-spec
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python3
-
-# This file is part of Cockpit.
-#
-# Copyright © 2022 Red Hat, Inc.
-#
-# Cockpit is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
-# under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
-# (at your option) any later version.
-#
-# Cockpit 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
-# Lesser General Public License for more details.
-#
-# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-# along with Cockpit; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-import argparse
-import contextlib
-import fileinput
-import os.path
-import re
-import sys
-
-
-BASE_DIR = os.path.realpath(f'{__file__}/../..')
-
-
-def wip_version(args):
-    return 'g' in args.version
-
-
-def substitute(match, args, package):
-    variable = match.group(1)
-
-    if variable == 'VERSION':
-        return args.version
-
-    else:
-        raise ValueError(f'Unsupported substitution @{variable}@')
-
-
-def replace_fields(output, lines, args):
-    variable_re = re.compile(r'@([A-Z_]+)@')
-    package_re = re.compile(r'%package (-n cockpit-)?([a-z]*)')
-    package = None
-
-    for line in lines:
-        if match := package_re.fullmatch(line.strip()):
-            package = match.group(2)
-        line = variable_re.sub(lambda m: substitute(m, args, package), line)
-        output.write(line)
-
-
-@contextlib.contextmanager
-def open_output(filename):
-    if filename:
-        fp = open(filename, 'w+')
-        yield fp
-        fp.close()
-    else:
-        yield sys.stdout
-
-
-def main():
-    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
-    parser.add_argument('--version', '-v', required=True, help='The version number')
-    parser.add_argument('--output', '-o', help='The output file (or stdout)')
-    parser.add_argument('template', nargs='*', help='The template (or stdin)')
-    args = parser.parse_args()
-
-    with open_output(args.output) as output:
-        replace_fields(output, fileinput.input(args.template), args)
-
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    main()