diff --git a/pythia_datasets/__init__.py b/pythia_datasets/__init__.py
index 2332e4a..0e02a2f 100644
--- a/pythia_datasets/__init__.py
+++ b/pythia_datasets/__init__.py
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 # flake8: noqa
 """Top-level module for pythia-datasets ."""
-from pkg_resources import DistributionNotFound, get_distribution
+from importlib.metadata import version as _version
 
 from .datasets import DATASETS, locate
 
 try:
-    __version__ = get_distribution(__name__).version
-except DistributionNotFound:  # pragma: no cover
+    __version__ = _version(__name__)
+except Exception:  # pragma: no cover
     # package is not installed
     __version__ = 'unknown'  # pragma: no cover
diff --git a/pythia_datasets/datasets.py b/pythia_datasets/datasets.py
index fa41fe3..7615483 100644
--- a/pythia_datasets/datasets.py
+++ b/pythia_datasets/datasets.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import pkg_resources
+from importlib.resources import files
+
 import pooch
 
 DATASETS = pooch.create(
@@ -7,7 +8,8 @@
     env='PYTHIA_DATASETS_DIR',
 )
 
-with pkg_resources.resource_stream('pythia_datasets', 'registry.txt') as registry_file:
+ref = files('pythia_datasets').joinpath('registry.txt')
+with ref.open('rb') as registry_file:
     DATASETS.load_registry(registry_file)
 
 
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 5a4785b..95de00d 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ extend-ignore = E203,E501,E402,W605
 
 [isort]
 known_first_party=pythia_datasets
-known_third_party=pkg_resources,pooch,setuptools
+known_third_party=pooch,setuptools
 multi_line_output=3
 include_trailing_comma=True
 force_grid_wrap=0