diff --git a/tabcmd/version.py b/tabcmd/version.py
index e6e2d0f1..b6de5391 100644
--- a/tabcmd/version.py
+++ b/tabcmd/version.py
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
-# when we drop python 3.8, this could be replaced with this lighter weight option
-# from importlib.metadata import version, PackageNotFoundError
-from pkg_resources import get_distribution, DistributionNotFound
+import importlib.metadata as libs
 
 try:
-    version = get_distribution("tabcmd").version
-except DistributionNotFound:
+    version = libs.version("tabcmd")
+except libs.PackageNotFoundError:
     version = "2.0.0"
     pass