diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 75924ff..3527794 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ lint =
 
 # Dependencies needed to build/view the documentation (semicolon/line-separated)
 docs =
-    setuptools==69.5.1 # RTD fails with setuptools>=70, see https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui/issues/15863
     transformers
     datasets
     matplotlib
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 18aba9e..5007a5b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -4,14 +4,15 @@
 """
 
 import sys
+from importlib.metadata import version
 
-from pkg_resources import VersionConflict, require
+from packaging.version import Version
 from setuptools import setup
 
-try:
-    require("setuptools>=38.3")
-except VersionConflict:
-    print("Error: version of setuptools is too old (<38.3)!")
+setuptools_version = Version(version("setuptools"))
+
+if setuptools_version < Version("38.3"):
+    print(f"Error: version of setuptools is too old (<38.3). Got {setuptools_version}.")
     sys.exit(1)