diff --git a/src/instana/collector/helpers/runtime.py b/src/instana/collector/helpers/runtime.py
index b27a859b..664c37a9 100644
--- a/src/instana/collector/helpers/runtime.py
+++ b/src/instana/collector/helpers/runtime.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # (c) Copyright Instana Inc. 2020
 
 """ Collection helper for the Python runtime """
+import importlib.metadata
 import os
 import gc
 import sys
@@ -9,7 +10,6 @@
 import resource
 import threading
 from types import ModuleType
-from pkg_resources import DistributionNotFound, get_distribution
 
 from instana.log import logger
 from instana.version import VERSION
@@ -230,8 +230,8 @@ def gather_python_packages(self):
                         elif "version" in pkg_info:
                             versions[pkg_name] = self.jsonable(pkg_info["version"])
                         else:
-                            versions[pkg_name] = get_distribution(pkg_name).version
-                    except DistributionNotFound:
+                            versions[pkg_name] = importlib.metadata.version(pkg_name)
+                    except importlib.metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
                         pass
                     except Exception:
                         logger.debug("gather_python_packages: could not process module: %s", pkg_name)
diff --git a/src/instana/util/__init__.py b/src/instana/util/__init__.py
index 94c79646..97de4f3f 100644
--- a/src/instana/util/__init__.py
+++ b/src/instana/util/__init__.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 from urllib import parse
 
-import pkg_resources
+import importlib.metadata
 
 from ..log import logger
 
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ def package_version():
     """
     version = ""
     try:
-        version = pkg_resources.get_distribution('instana').version
-    except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
+        version = importlib.metadata.version('instana')
+    except importlib.metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
         version = 'unknown'
 
     return version