diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 08f2228cc..6877ae3fe 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,11 +1,40 @@
 [build-system]
 requires = [
-    "setuptools >= 56.0",
+    "setuptools >= 61.2",
     "wheel >= 0.29.0",
     "versioningit >= 1.1.0"
 ]
 build-backend = 'setuptools.build_meta'
 
+[project]
+name = "qcodes_contrib_drivers"
+description = "User contributed drivers for QCoDeS"
+classifiers = [ "Development Status :: 3 - Alpha", "Intended Audience :: Science/Research", "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License", "License :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License v2 or later (GPLv2+)", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10", "Topic :: Scientific/Engineering",]
+requires-python = ">=3.8"
+dependencies = [ "qcodes>=0.33.0", "versioningit>=1.1.0",]
+dynamic = [ "version",]
+
+[[project.maintainers]]
+name = "QCoDeS Community"
+email = "qcodes-support@microsoft.com"
+
+[project.readme]
+file = "README.rst"
+content-type = "text/x-rst"
+
+[project.license]
+text = "MIT"
+
+[project.urls]
+Homepage = "https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers"
+Documentation = "https://qcodes.github.io/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/"
+Source = "https://github.com/qcodes/qcodes_contrib_drivers"
+Tracker = "https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/issues"
+
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+test = [ "pytest>=6.2.2", "pytest-mock", "mypy>=0.940", "pytest-cov>=3.0.0", "coverage[toml]>=6.2", "pyvisa-sim",]
+docs = [ "sphinx", "sphinx_rtd_theme", "nbsphinx",]
+
 [tool.mypy]
 strict_optional = true
 disallow_untyped_decorators = true
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 27e476920..145b74fdd 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,47 +1,12 @@
+# note that only setuptools specific configuration is
+# in this file. Std configuration as defined by pep621
+# and configuration for other tools goes into pyproject.toml
+
 [metadata]
-name = qcodes_contrib_drivers
-maintainer = QCoDeS Community
-maintainer_email = qcodes-support@microsoft.com
-description = User contributed drivers for QCoDeS
-long_description = file: README.rst
-long_description_content_type = text/x-rst
-url = https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers
-classifiers =
-          Development Status :: 3 - Alpha
-          Intended Audience :: Science/Research
-          License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License
-          License :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License v2 or later (GPLv2+)
-          Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only
-          Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8
-          Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9
-          Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10
-          Topic :: Scientific/Engineering
-license = MIT
 license_files =
     LICENSE_TEKTRONIX_AWG520_KEITHLEY_2700
     LICENSE
-project_urls =
-    Documentation = https://qcodes.github.io/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/
-    Source = https://github.com/qcodes/qcodes_contrib_drivers
-    Tracker = https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/issues
 
 [options]
 zip_safe = False
 packages = find:
-python_requires = >=3.8
-install_requires =
-   qcodes>=0.33.0
-   versioningit>=1.1.0
-
-[options.extras_require]
-test =
-    pytest>=6.2.2
-    pytest-mock
-    mypy>=0.940
-    pytest-cov>=3.0.0
-    coverage[toml]>=6.2
-    pyvisa-sim
-docs =
-    sphinx
-    sphinx_rtd_theme
-    nbsphinx
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 58b44f09e..b095ba7af 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,26 @@
+import setuptools
 from setuptools import setup
 from versioningit import get_cmdclasses
 
+# this file does not contain configuration
+# std configuration as defined by pep621
+# is in pyproject.toml
+# and setuptools specific config in setup.cfg
+
+if int(setuptools.__version__.split(".")[0]) < 61:
+    raise RuntimeError(
+        "At least setuptools 61 is required to install qcodes-contrib-drivers from source"
+    )
+
+try:
+    import pip
+
+    if int(pip.__version__.split(".")[0]) < 19:
+        raise RuntimeError("At least pip 19 is required to install qcodes-contrib-drivers from source")
+except ImportError:
+    # we are not being executed from pip so pip version is not important
+    pass
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     setup(
         cmdclass=get_cmdclasses(),