diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ec3fdbb..f975797 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -212,4 +212,7 @@ fabric.properties
 rust-project.json
 .dockerignore
 
-# End of https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/intellij,rust-analyzer
\ No newline at end of file
+# End of https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/intellij,rust-analyzer
+# build artifacts
+/dist-pypi/
+*.whl
diff --git a/pypi/kingfisher/_version.py b/pypi/kingfisher/_version.py
index 6c8e6b9..10aa336 100644
--- a/pypi/kingfisher/_version.py
+++ b/pypi/kingfisher/_version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "0.0.0"
+__version__ = "1.2.3"
diff --git a/pypi/pyproject.toml b/pypi/pyproject.toml
index 4f8bee4..f485a2e 100644
--- a/pypi/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pypi/pyproject.toml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ kingfisher = "kingfisher:main"
 path = "kingfisher/_version.py"
 
 [tool.hatch.build]
+ignore-vcs = true
 include = [
   "kingfisher/**/*.py",
   "kingfisher/bin/*",
@@ -38,6 +39,5 @@ include = [
 [tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
 only-include = [
   "kingfisher",
-  "kingfisher/bin",
   "README.md",
 ]
diff --git a/scripts/build-pypi-wheel.sh b/scripts/build-pypi-wheel.sh
index 2705886..ea797bb 100755
--- a/scripts/build-pypi-wheel.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-pypi-wheel.sh
@@ -51,17 +51,53 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
   esac
 done
 
-if [[ -z "$binary_path" || -z "$version" || -z "$plat_name" ]]; then
-  usage
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-}"
+
+if [[ -z "${PYTHON}" ]]; then
+  if command -v python >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    PYTHON="python"
+  elif command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    PYTHON="python3"
+  else
+    echo "Python not found. Install Python 3 (or set PYTHON=/path/to/python3)." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+# Ensure build module exists
+"$PYTHON" -m build --version >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
+  echo "Installing Python build backend (build)..." >&2
+  "$PYTHON" -m pip install -U build >/dev/null
+}
+
+
+# Resolve binary_path to an absolute, normalized path (works without realpath)
+if [[ -z "$binary_path" ]]; then
+  echo "Missing --binary" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "$binary_path" != /* ]]; then
+  # interpret relative to the directory where the user invoked the script
+  binary_path="$PWD/$binary_path"
+fi
+
+# Normalize path and verify it exists
+if ! binary_path="$(cd "$(dirname "$binary_path")" && pwd)/$(basename "$binary_path")"; then
+  echo "Failed to resolve binary path: $binary_path" >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -f "$binary_path" ]]; then
   echo "Binary not found: $binary_path" >&2
+  echo "Tip: check for typos (e.g. 'kiingfisher' vs 'kingfisher')." >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 
+
 root_dir="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+cd "$root_dir"
+
 pkg_dir="$root_dir/pypi"
 bin_dir="$pkg_dir/kingfisher/bin"
 
@@ -74,15 +110,20 @@ fi
 
 cp "$binary_path" "$bin_dir/$binary_name"
 chmod +x "$bin_dir/$binary_name" || true
+test -x "$bin_dir/$binary_name" || {
+  echo "Binary copy failed: $bin_dir/$binary_name" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+ls -la "$bin_dir/$binary_name"
+
 
 cat > "$pkg_dir/kingfisher/_version.py" <<EOF
 __version__ = "$version"
 EOF
 
-python -m build \
+"$PYTHON" -m build \
   --wheel \
   --outdir "$out_dir" \
-  --config-setting "--plat-name=$plat_name" \
   "$pkg_dir"
 
 echo "Built wheel(s) in $out_dir"