diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 32d94ae8..a4055516 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def finalize_options(self):
                         need_cythonize = True
 
         if need_cythonize:
-            import pkg_resources
+            from packaging.requirements import Requirement
 
             # Double check Cython presence in case setup_requires
             # didn't go into effect (most likely because someone
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ def finalize_options(self):
                     'please install {} to compile uvloop from source'.format(
                         CYTHON_DEPENDENCY))
 
-            cython_dep = pkg_resources.Requirement.parse(CYTHON_DEPENDENCY)
-            if Cython.__version__ not in cython_dep:
+            cython_dep = Requirement(CYTHON_DEPENDENCY)
+            if Cython.__version__ not in str(cython_dep.specifier):
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     'uvloop requires {}, got Cython=={}'.format(
                         CYTHON_DEPENDENCY, Cython.__version__