diff --git a/news/load-data.rst b/news/load-data.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b614de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/load-data.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+**Added:**
+
+* No news added: change how data path is referenced. Remove ``__file__`` reference.
+
+**Changed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Deprecated:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Removed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Fixed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Security:**
+
+* <news item>
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a55f107..b7ac149 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ include = ["*"]  # package names should match these glob patterns (["*"] by defa
 exclude = ["diffpy.labpdfproc.tests*"]  # exclude packages matching these glob patterns (empty by default)
 namespaces = false  # to disable scanning PEP 420 namespaces (true by default)
 
+[tool.setuptools.package-data]
+"diffpy.labpdfproc" = ["data/*"]
+
 [tool.setuptools.dynamic]
 dependencies = {file = ["requirements/pip.txt"]}
 
diff --git a/src/diffpy/labpdfproc/functions.py b/src/diffpy/labpdfproc/functions.py
index 7ecd126..8d7a76a 100644
--- a/src/diffpy/labpdfproc/functions.py
+++ b/src/diffpy/labpdfproc/functions.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import math
 import warnings
-from pathlib import Path
+from importlib.resources import files
 
 import numpy as np
 import pandas as pd
@@ -17,11 +17,11 @@
 CVE_METHODS = ["brute_force", "polynomial_interpolation"]
 
 # Pre-computed datasets for polynomial interpolation (fast calculation)
+data_dir = files("diffpy.labpdfproc") / "data"
 MUD_LIST = np.array([0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7])
-CWD = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
-MULS = np.loadtxt(CWD / "data" / "inverse_cve.xy")
+MULS = np.loadtxt(data_dir / "inverse_cve.xy")
 COEFFICIENT_LIST = np.array(
-    pd.read_csv(CWD / "data" / "coefficient_list.csv", header=None)
+    pd.read_csv(data_dir / "coefficient_list.csv", header=None)
 )
 INTERPOLATION_FUNCTIONS = [
     interp1d(MUD_LIST, coeffs, kind="quadratic") for coeffs in COEFFICIENT_LIST