diff --git a/qtpy/__init__.py b/qtpy/__init__.py
index 31175bd8..94a894da 100644
--- a/qtpy/__init__.py
+++ b/qtpy/__init__.py
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@
 
 """
 
-from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+import pkg_resources
+from pkg_resources import parse_version as LooseVersion
 import os
 import platform
 import sys