diff --git a/docs/changelog/1846.bugfix.rst b/docs/changelog/1846.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0ee5cd766
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/1846.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Relax ``importlib.resources`` requirement to also allow version 2 - by :user:`asottile`.
diff --git a/docs/changelog/1855.bugfix.rst b/docs/changelog/1855.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..382169b67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/1855.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Upgrade embedded setuptools to ``44.1.1`` for python 2 and ``47.1.1`` for python3.5+ - by :user:`gaborbernat`.
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 42358c53e..04f5c306d 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ virtualenv.activate =
     batch = virtualenv.activation.batch:BatchActivator
     fish = virtualenv.activation.fish:FishActivator
     powershell = virtualenv.activation.powershell:PowerShellActivator
-    python = virtualenv.activation.python:PythonActivator
+    python = virtualenv.activation.python:PestythonActivator
     xonsh = virtualenv.activation.xonsh:XonshActivator
 virtualenv.create =
     venv = virtualenv.create.via_global_ref.venv:Venv
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ testing =
     pytest-randomly >= 1
     pytest-timeout >= 1
     flaky >= 3
-    xonsh >= 0.9.16; python_version > '3.4'
+    xonsh >= 0.9.16; python_version > '3.4' and python_version != '3.9'
 
 [options.package_data]
 virtualenv.activation.bash = *.sh
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/__init__.py b/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/__init__.py
index 90fea02bb..28fd0c476 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/__init__.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/__init__.py
@@ -3,27 +3,27 @@
 BUNDLE_SUPPORT = {
     "3.9": {
         "pip": "pip-20.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
-        "setuptools": "setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "setuptools": "setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "wheel": "wheel-0.34.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.8": {
         "pip": "pip-20.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
-        "setuptools": "setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "setuptools": "setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "wheel": "wheel-0.34.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.7": {
         "pip": "pip-20.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
-        "setuptools": "setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "setuptools": "setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "wheel": "wheel-0.34.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.6": {
         "pip": "pip-20.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
-        "setuptools": "setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "setuptools": "setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "wheel": "wheel-0.34.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.5": {
         "pip": "pip-20.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
-        "setuptools": "setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "setuptools": "setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "wheel": "wheel-0.34.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.4": {
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     },
     "2.7": {
         "pip": "pip-20.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
-        "setuptools": "setuptools-44.1.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
+        "setuptools": "setuptools-44.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
         "wheel": "wheel-0.34.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl",
     },
 }
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-44.1.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl b/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-44.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl
similarity index 95%
rename from src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-44.1.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
rename to src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-44.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl
index 3b8866b76..bf28513c9 100644
Binary files a/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-44.1.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl and b/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-44.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl differ
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl b/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl
similarity index 89%
rename from src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl
rename to src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl
index fc534bd05..e226baf32 100644
Binary files a/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-46.4.0-py3-none-any.whl and b/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/wheels/setuptools-47.1.1-py3-none-any.whl differ
diff --git a/tests/unit/activation/test_xonsh.py b/tests/unit/activation/test_xonsh.py
index f2ed60846..3945d7c8b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/activation/test_xonsh.py
+++ b/tests/unit/activation/test_xonsh.py
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@
 
 
 @pytest.mark.slow
-@pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == "win32" and IS_PYPY and PY3, reason="xonsh on Windows blocks indefinitely")
-@pytest.mark.xfail(
-    condition=sys.version_info[0:2] == (3, 9), strict=True, reason="https://bugs.python.org/issue40726",
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    (sys.platform == "win32" and IS_PYPY and PY3) or sys.version_info[0:2] == (3, 9),
+    reason="xonsh on Windows blocks indefinitely and is not stable yet on 3.9",
 )
 def test_xonsh(activation_tester_class, activation_tester):
     class Xonsh(activation_tester_class):