diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 392bde96..bb1b1f51 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@
 # sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('some/directory'))
 
 import datetime
-import pkg_resources
+
+try:
+    from importlib.metadata import version as metadata_version
+except ImportError:
+    from importlib_metadata import version as metadata_version
 import pylons_sphinx_themes
 
 # General configuration
@@ -53,7 +57,7 @@
 # other places throughout the built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = pkg_resources.get_distribution("waitress").version
+version = metadata_version("waitress")
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
 release = version
 
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 672ef9d6..65625dce 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ docs =
     Sphinx>=1.8.1
     docutils
     pylons-sphinx-themes>=1.0.9
+    importlib-metadata; python_version < "3.8"
 
 [tool:pytest]
 python_files = test_*.py