diff --git a/AUTHORS.rst b/AUTHORS.rst
index 848008c153..5f3a5f3253 100644
--- a/AUTHORS.rst
+++ b/AUTHORS.rst
@@ -39,3 +39,4 @@ For example:
 * Chandler Anderson (zenibako)
 * Ben French (BenjaminFrench)
 * Rupert Barrow (rupertbarrow)
+* Rupesh J (rupeshjSFDC)
diff --git a/cumulusci/__init__.py b/cumulusci/__init__.py
index 2dd9be88c7..2db01717a4 100644
--- a/cumulusci/__init__.py
+++ b/cumulusci/__init__.py
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 import os
 import sys
+from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError, version
 
 from simple_salesforce import api, bulk
 
-from cumulusci.__about__ import __version__
-
-__import__("pkg_resources").declare_namespace("cumulusci")
-
 __location__ = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 
-__version__ = __version__
+try:
+    __version__ = version("cumulusci")
+except PackageNotFoundError:
+    __version__ = "unknown"
 
 if sys.version_info < (3, 8):  # pragma: no cover
     raise Exception("CumulusCI requires Python 3.8+.")
diff --git a/cumulusci/cli/robot.py b/cumulusci/cli/robot.py
index 5083a1b68d..a7409760e9 100644
--- a/cumulusci/cli/robot.py
+++ b/cumulusci/cli/robot.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
+import importlib.metadata
 import sys
 
 import click
-import pkg_resources
 import sarge
 
 from .runtime import pass_runtime
@@ -109,5 +109,8 @@ def _require_npm():
 
 def _is_package_installed(package_name):
     """Return True if the given package is installed"""
-    # technique shamelessly stolen from https://stackoverflow.com/a/44210735/7432
-    return package_name in {pkg.key for pkg in pkg_resources.working_set}
+    try:
+        importlib.metadata.distribution(package_name)
+        return True
+    except importlib.metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
+        return False
diff --git a/cumulusci/cli/runtime.py b/cumulusci/cli/runtime.py
index 16157d0930..9e596fa7da 100644
--- a/cumulusci/cli/runtime.py
+++ b/cumulusci/cli/runtime.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 import click
 import keyring
-import pkg_resources
+from packaging import version
 
 from cumulusci.cli.utils import get_installed_version
 from cumulusci.core.exceptions import ConfigError, KeychainKeyNotFound, OrgNotFound
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def check_cumulusci_version(self):
         if self.project_config:
             min_cci_version = self.project_config.minimum_cumulusci_version
             if min_cci_version:
-                parsed_version = pkg_resources.parse_version(min_cci_version)
+                parsed_version = version.parse(min_cci_version)
                 if get_installed_version() < parsed_version:
                     raise click.UsageError(
                         f"This project requires CumulusCI version {min_cci_version} or later. "
diff --git a/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_cci.py b/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_cci.py
index ccb06adaea..c91a367dcd 100644
--- a/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_cci.py
+++ b/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_cci.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 from unittest import mock
 
 import click
-import pkg_resources
 import pytest
+from packaging import version
 from requests.exceptions import ConnectionError
 from rich.console import Console
 
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ def test_cli():
 
 @mock.patch(
     "cumulusci.cli.cci.get_latest_final_version",
-    mock.Mock(return_value=pkg_resources.parse_version("100")),
+    mock.Mock(return_value=version.parse("100")),
 )
 def test_version(capsys):
     run_click_command(cci.version)
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ def test_version(capsys):
 
 @mock.patch(
     "cumulusci.cli.cci.get_latest_final_version",
-    mock.Mock(return_value=pkg_resources.parse_version("1")),
+    mock.Mock(return_value=version.parse("1")),
 )
 def test_version__latest(capsys):
     run_click_command(cci.version)
diff --git a/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_robot.py b/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_robot.py
index f9243c1ff3..50f75c700f 100644
--- a/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_robot.py
+++ b/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_robot.py
@@ -9,19 +9,11 @@
 from .utils import run_cli_command
 
 
-class MockWorkingSet(list):
-    """Mocks a pkg_resources.workingset object
+class MockDistribution:
+    """Mocks an importlib.metadata.Distribution object"""
 
-    Basically, a list of mock packages representing all of the packages
-    installed in the current environment
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, *package_names):
-        super().__init__()
-        for package_name in package_names:
-            pkg = mock.Mock()
-            pkg.key = package_name
-            self.append(pkg)
+    def __init__(self, name):
+        self.name = name
 
 
 def mock_Command(returncodes={}):
@@ -49,16 +41,18 @@ def run():
     return the_real_mock
 
 
-@mock.patch("cumulusci.cli.robot.pkg_resources")
-def test_is_package_installed(pkg_resources):
+@mock.patch("cumulusci.cli.robot.importlib.metadata.distribution")
+def test_is_package_installed(mock_distribution):
     """Verify that the helper _is_package_installed returns the correct result"""
-    pkg_resources.working_set = MockWorkingSet(
-        "robotframework", "robotframework-browser", "snowfakery"
-    )
+    # Test when package is installed
+    mock_distribution.return_value = MockDistribution("robotframework-browser")
     result = _is_package_installed("robotframework-browser")
     assert result is True
 
-    pkg_resources.working_set = MockWorkingSet("robotframework", "snowfakery")
+    # Test when package is not installed
+    from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError
+
+    mock_distribution.side_effect = PackageNotFoundError("Package not found")
     result = _is_package_installed("robotframework-browser")
     assert result is False
 
diff --git a/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_utils.py b/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_utils.py
index 4298e890f3..79964e322a 100644
--- a/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/cumulusci/cli/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 import time
 from unittest import mock
 
-import pkg_resources
 import pytest
 import requests
 import responses
+from packaging import version
 
 import cumulusci
 
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ def test_get_latest_final_version():
 def test_check_latest_version(click, get_latest_final_version, get_installed_version):
     with utils.timestamp_file() as f:
         f.write(str(time.time() - 4000))
-    get_latest_final_version.return_value = pkg_resources.parse_version("2")
-    get_installed_version.return_value = pkg_resources.parse_version("1")
+    get_latest_final_version.return_value = version.parse("2")
+    get_installed_version.return_value = version.parse("1")
 
     utils.check_latest_version()
     if sys.version_info > utils.LOWEST_SUPPORTED_VERSION:
diff --git a/cumulusci/cli/utils.py b/cumulusci/cli/utils.py
index e33d3005f5..125ba19303 100644
--- a/cumulusci/cli/utils.py
+++ b/cumulusci/cli/utils.py
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 
 import click
-import pkg_resources
 import requests
+from packaging import version as packaging_version
 from rich.console import Console
 
 from cumulusci import __version__
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def get_latest_final_version():
     for versionstring in res["releases"].keys():
         if not is_final_release(versionstring):
             continue
-        versions.append(pkg_resources.parse_version(versionstring))
+        versions.append(packaging_version.parse(versionstring))
     versions.sort(reverse=True)
     return versions[0]
 
@@ -110,9 +110,14 @@ def check_latest_version():
             )
 
 
-def get_installed_version():
-    """returns the version name (e.g. 2.0.0b58) that is installed"""
-    return pkg_resources.parse_version(__version__)
+def parse_version(versionstring: str) -> packaging_version.Version:
+    """Parse a version string into a Version object."""
+    return packaging_version.parse(versionstring)
+
+
+def get_installed_version() -> packaging_version.Version:
+    """Get the installed version of CumulusCI."""
+    return parse_version(__version__)
 
 
 def win32_long_paths_enabled() -> bool:
diff --git a/cumulusci/tasks/salesforce/update_profile.py b/cumulusci/tasks/salesforce/update_profile.py
index 2aca7de9ab..a9f54139eb 100644
--- a/cumulusci/tasks/salesforce/update_profile.py
+++ b/cumulusci/tasks/salesforce/update_profile.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import os
 from collections import defaultdict
 
-import pkg_resources
+from packaging import version
 
 from cumulusci.core.exceptions import CumulusCIException, TaskOptionsError
 from cumulusci.core.utils import process_bool_arg, process_list_arg
@@ -69,10 +69,8 @@ def _init_options(self, kwargs):
         # not be using a custom `package.xml`
         min_cci_version = self.project_config.minimum_cumulusci_version
         if min_cci_version and "package_xml" not in self.options:
-            parsed_version = pkg_resources.parse_version(min_cci_version)
-            default_packages_arg = parsed_version >= pkg_resources.parse_version(
-                "3.9.0"
-            )
+            parsed_version = version.parse(min_cci_version)
+            default_packages_arg = parsed_version >= version.parse("3.9.0")
         else:
             default_packages_arg = False
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6bd22c63e2..14ee39ce02 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "defusedxml",
     "lxml",
     "MarkupSafe",
+    "packaging>=23.0",
     "psutil",
     "pydantic<2",
     "PyJWT",