diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 70e9ffe4..2f778b49 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ jobs:
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
           pip install pylint==2.15.*
           pip install mock
+          pip install packaging
           pip install requests==2.28.*
       - name: Analysing the code with pylint
         run: |
diff --git a/conda_env/gdal-dev.yml b/conda_env/gdal-dev.yml
index c20086aa..89f124d0 100644
--- a/conda_env/gdal-dev.yml
+++ b/conda_env/gdal-dev.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ dependencies:
   - bs4=4.11.*
   - lxml=4.9.*
   - matplotlib=3.4.3
+  - packaging
   - autopep8=2.0.*
   - mock
   - twine
diff --git a/conda_env/gdal-user.yml b/conda_env/gdal-user.yml
index 322215a5..b39491d9 100644
--- a/conda_env/gdal-user.yml
+++ b/conda_env/gdal-user.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ dependencies:
   - bs4=4.11.*
   - lxml=4.9.*
   - matplotlib=3.4.3
+  - packaging
   - pip
   - pip:
       - wahoomc==4.3.0
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index a51e2775..057123f3 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ classifiers =
 [options]
 packages = wahoomc, wahoomc.init
 python_requires = >=3.10
+install_requires =
+    packaging
 
 [options.package_data]
-wahoomc = resources/*.*, resources/*/*.*, resources/*/*/*.*, resources/*/*/*/*.*, tooling_win/*.*, tooling_win/*/*.*, tooling_win/*/*/*.*, tooling_win/*/*/*/*.*
\ No newline at end of file
+wahoomc = resources/*.*, resources/*/*.*, resources/*/*/*.*, resources/*/*/*/*.*, tooling_win/*.*, tooling_win/*/*.*, tooling_win/*/*/*.*, tooling_win/*/*/*/*.*
diff --git a/tests/test_setup.py b/tests/test_setup.py
index 36cb3f29..76de8183 100644
--- a/tests/test_setup.py
+++ b/tests/test_setup.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import unittest
 import platform
 import os
-import pkg_resources
+from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
 
 # import custom python packages
 from wahoomc.setup_functions import is_program_installed, is_map_writer_plugin_installed, \
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def test_version_constants_against_pypi(self):
         """
         tests, if the version of constants.py is equal to the latest available version on PyPI
         """
-        latest_version = pkg_resources.parse_version(
+        latest_version = parse_version(
             get_latest_pypi_version()).public
 
         self.assertEqual(
diff --git a/wahoomc/setup_functions.py b/wahoomc/setup_functions.py
index ad735ed7..2b181f58 100644
--- a/wahoomc/setup_functions.py
+++ b/wahoomc/setup_functions.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 import shutil
 from pathlib import Path
 import sys
-import pkg_resources
+from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
 
 # import custom python packages
 from wahoomc.file_directory_functions import delete_everything_in_folder, write_json_file_generic, \
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def adjustments_due_to_breaking_changes():
     #                                   and not 'tooling_win/Osmosis'
     # - to cleanup, tooling_win/ dir files and folders are deleted here.
     if (version_last_run is None or \
-            pkg_resources.parse_version(VERSION) <= pkg_resources.parse_version('4.2.1')) and \
+            parse_version(VERSION) <= parse_version('4.2.1')) and \
             platform.system() == "Windows":
         log.info(
             'Last run was with version %s, deleting Windows Tooling files of %s directory due to possible bad files.', version_last_run, USER_TOOLING_WIN_DIR)
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ def check_installed_version_against_latest_pypi():
 
     # compare installed version against latest and issue a info if a new version is available
     if latest_version \
-            and pkg_resources.parse_version(VERSION) < pkg_resources.parse_version(latest_version):
+            and parse_version(VERSION) < parse_version(latest_version):
         log.info('\n\nUpdate available! \
                 \nA new version of wahoomc is available: "%s". You have installed version "%s". \
                 \nUpgrade wahoomc with "pip install wahoomc --upgrade". \