diff --git a/pyfastaq/__init__.py b/pyfastaq/__init__.py
index 5ab54d0..b092802 100644
--- a/pyfastaq/__init__.py
+++ b/pyfastaq/__init__.py
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
-from pkg_resources import get_distribution
-
 try:
-    __version__ = get_distribution('pyfastaq').version
+    from importlib.metadata import Distribution
+    __version__ = Distribution().from_name('pyfastaq').version
 except:
-    __version__ = 'local'
+    try:
+        from pkg_resources import get_distribution
+        __version__ = get_distribution('pyfastaq').version
+    except:
+        __version__ = 'local'