diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 539a1ba..e74bfda 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ select = B,C,E,F,W,T4,B9
 
 [isort]
 known_first_party=xbatcher
-known_third_party=numpy,pkg_resources,pytest,setuptools,sphinx_autosummary_accessors,tensorflow,torch,xarray
+known_third_party=numpy,pytest,setuptools,sphinx_autosummary_accessors,tensorflow,torch,xarray
 multi_line_output=3
 include_trailing_comma=True
 force_grid_wrap=0
diff --git a/xbatcher/__init__.py b/xbatcher/__init__.py
index 788b309..6bdb880 100644
--- a/xbatcher/__init__.py
+++ b/xbatcher/__init__.py
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
-from pkg_resources import DistributionNotFound, get_distribution
+from importlib.metadata import (
+    PackageNotFoundError as _PackageNotFoundError,
+    version as _version,
+)
 
 from .accessors import BatchAccessor  # noqa: F401
 from .generators import BatchGenerator  # noqa: F401
 from .util.print_versions import show_versions  # noqa: F401
 
 try:
-    __version__ = get_distribution(__name__).version
-except DistributionNotFound:  # noqa: F401; pragma: no cover
+    __version__ = _version(__name__)
+except _PackageNotFoundError:
     # package is not installed
-    pass
+    __version__ = 'unknown'