diff --git a/eccodes/_eccodes.cc b/eccodes/_eccodes.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fab1175
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eccodes/_eccodes.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <Python.h>
+
+#include <eccodes.h>
+
+static PyObject *versions(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
+{
+    long s = grib_get_api_version(); // Force linking
+
+    return Py_BuildValue("{s:s}",
+                         "eccodes", ECCODES_VERSION_STR);
+}
+
+static PyMethodDef eccodes_methods[] = {
+    {
+        "versions",
+        versions,
+        METH_NOARGS,
+        "Versions",
+    },
+    {
+        0,
+    }};
+
+static struct PyModuleDef eccodes_definition = {
+    PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
+    "eccodes",
+    "Load ecCodes library.",
+    -1,
+    eccodes_methods};
+
+PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit__eccodes(void)
+{
+    Py_Initialize();
+    return PyModule_Create(&eccodes_definition);
+}