diff --git a/THANKS b/THANKS
index 524ab48b..552675f0 100644
--- a/THANKS
+++ b/THANKS
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ Stephen DiCato <Locker537@gmail.com>
 Stephen Holsapple <sholsapp@gmail.com>
 Steven Cummings <estebistec@gmail.com>
 Sébastien Fievet <zyegfryed@gmail.com>
+Tal Einat <532281+taleinat@users.noreply.github.com>
 Talha Malik <talham7391@hotmail.com>
 TedWantsMore <TedWantsMore@gmx.com>
 Teko012 <112829523+Teko012@users.noreply.github.com>
diff --git a/gunicorn/util.py b/gunicorn/util.py
index e10da0fe..b4a2d6ee 100644
--- a/gunicorn/util.py
+++ b/gunicorn/util.py
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ import time
 import traceback
 import warnings
 
-import pkg_resources
+try:
+    import importlib.metadata as importlib_metadata
+except ImportError:
+    import importlib_metadata
 
 from gunicorn.errors import AppImportError
 from gunicorn.workers import SUPPORTED_WORKERS
@@ -54,6 +57,15 @@ except ImportError:
         pass
 
 
+def load_entry_point(distribution, group, name):
+    dist_obj = importlib_metadata.distribution(distribution)
+    eps = [ep for ep in dist_obj.entry_points
+           if ep.group == group and ep.name == name]
+    if not eps:
+        raise ImportError("Entry point %r not found" % ((group, name),))
+    return eps[0].load()
+
+
 def load_class(uri, default="gunicorn.workers.sync.SyncWorker",
                section="gunicorn.workers"):
     if inspect.isclass(uri):
@@ -68,7 +80,7 @@ def load_class(uri, default="gunicorn.workers.sync.SyncWorker",
             name = default
 
         try:
-            return pkg_resources.load_entry_point(dist, section, name)
+            return load_entry_point(dist, section, name)
         except Exception:
             exc = traceback.format_exc()
             msg = "class uri %r invalid or not found: \n\n[%s]"
@@ -85,7 +97,7 @@ def load_class(uri, default="gunicorn.workers.sync.SyncWorker",
                     break
 
                 try:
-                    return pkg_resources.load_entry_point(
+                    return load_entry_point(
                         "gunicorn", section, uri
                     )
                 except Exception:
diff --git a/gunicorn/workers/geventlet.py b/gunicorn/workers/geventlet.py
index 109c6b9a..64595b53 100644
--- a/gunicorn/workers/geventlet.py
+++ b/gunicorn/workers/geventlet.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     raise RuntimeError("eventlet worker requires eventlet 0.24.1 or higher")
 else:
-    from pkg_resources import parse_version
+    from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
     if parse_version(eventlet.__version__) < parse_version('0.24.1'):
         raise RuntimeError("eventlet worker requires eventlet 0.24.1 or higher")
 
diff --git a/gunicorn/workers/ggevent.py b/gunicorn/workers/ggevent.py
index d7ff2c55..9ece3b60 100644
--- a/gunicorn/workers/ggevent.py
+++ b/gunicorn/workers/ggevent.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     raise RuntimeError("gevent worker requires gevent 1.4 or higher")
 else:
-    from pkg_resources import parse_version
+    from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
     if parse_version(gevent.__version__) < parse_version('1.4'):
         raise RuntimeError("gevent worker requires gevent 1.4 or higher")
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c12c9fde..dffd418c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -71,11 +71,8 @@ class PyTestCommand(TestCommand):
 
 
 install_requires = [
-    # We depend on functioning pkg_resources.working_set.add_entry() and
-    # pkg_resources.load_entry_point(). These both work as of 3.0 which
-    # is the first version to support Python 3.4 which we require as a
-    # floor.
-    'setuptools>=3.0',
+    'importlib_metadata; python_version<"3.8"',
+    'packaging',
 ]
 
 extras_require = {