diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a276f11..722ffa5 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ description = "Discover and retrieve water data from U.S. federal hydrologic web
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.8"
 keywords = ["USGS", "water data"]
-license = {file = "LICENSE.md"}
+license = "CC0-1.0"
+license-files = ["LICENSE.md"]
 authors = [
   {name = "Timothy Hodson", email = "thodson@usgs.gov"},
 ]