diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e2b18388..5d09895b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ docs = [
 [build-system]
 requires = [
     "setuptools>=77.0.3",
-    "Cython(>=3.2.1,<4.0.0)"
+    "Cython(>=3.2.1,<4.0.0)",
+    "packaging>=20"
 ]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f9fafadf..5fdc53ff 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ def finalize_options(self):
                         need_cythonize = True
 
         if need_cythonize:
-            import pkg_resources
+            from packaging.requirements import Requirement
 
             # Double check Cython presence in case setup_requires
             # didn't go into effect (most likely because someone
@@ -201,8 +201,10 @@ def finalize_options(self):
                     'please install {} to compile asyncpg from source'.format(
                         CYTHON_DEPENDENCY))
 
-            cython_dep = pkg_resources.Requirement.parse(CYTHON_DEPENDENCY)
-            if Cython.__version__ not in cython_dep:
+            cython_dep = Requirement(CYTHON_DEPENDENCY)
+            if not cython_dep.specifier.contains(
+                Cython.__version__, prereleases=True
+            ):
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     'asyncpg requires {}, got Cython=={}'.format(
                         CYTHON_DEPENDENCY, Cython.__version__