diff --git a/changelog.d/3915.misc.rst b/changelog.d/3915.misc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cd962b2c6e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3915.misc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Adequate tests to the latest changes in ``virtualenv`` for Python 3.12.
diff --git a/docs/userguide/ext_modules.rst b/docs/userguide/ext_modules.rst
index a59599b2756..8c193856ac2 100644
--- a/docs/userguide/ext_modules.rst
+++ b/docs/userguide/ext_modules.rst
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ To instruct setuptools to compile the ``foo.c`` file into the extension module
 
 .. seealso::
    You can find more information on the `Python docs about C/C++ extensions`_.
-   Alternatively, you might also be interested in learn about `Cython`_.
+   Alternatively, you might also be interested in learning about `Cython`_.
 
    If you plan to distribute a package that uses extensions across multiple
    platforms, :pypi:`cibuildwheel` can also be helpful.
diff --git a/setuptools/tests/fixtures.py b/setuptools/tests/fixtures.py
index 25ab49fd227..f1cfc66c81e 100644
--- a/setuptools/tests/fixtures.py
+++ b/setuptools/tests/fixtures.py
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ def venv(tmp_path, setuptools_wheel):
     """Virtual env with the version of setuptools under test installed"""
     env = environment.VirtualEnv()
     env.root = path.Path(tmp_path / 'venv')
+    env.create_opts = ['--no-setuptools', '--wheel=bundle']
+    # TODO: Use `--no-wheel` when setuptools implements its own bdist_wheel
     env.req = str(setuptools_wheel)
     # In some environments (eg. downstream distro packaging),
     # where tox isn't used to run tests and PYTHONPATH is set to point to
@@ -125,7 +127,7 @@ def venv_without_setuptools(tmp_path):
     """Virtual env without any version of setuptools installed"""
     env = environment.VirtualEnv()
     env.root = path.Path(tmp_path / 'venv_without_setuptools')
-    env.create_opts = ['--no-setuptools']
+    env.create_opts = ['--no-setuptools', '--no-wheel']
     env.ensure_env()
     return env
 
diff --git a/setuptools/tests/test_virtualenv.py b/setuptools/tests/test_virtualenv.py
index acfe04e9ddb..b17be9ef2ba 100644
--- a/setuptools/tests/test_virtualenv.py
+++ b/setuptools/tests/test_virtualenv.py
@@ -174,8 +174,8 @@ def sdist(distname, version):
 
 
 def test_test_command_install_requirements(venv, tmpdir, tmpdir_cwd):
-    # Ensure pip/wheel packages are installed.
-    venv.run(["python", "-c", "__import__('pkg_resources').require(['pip', 'wheel'])"])
+    # Ensure pip is installed.
+    venv.run(["python", "-c", "import pip"])
     # disable index URL so bits and bobs aren't requested from PyPI
     with contexts.environment(PYTHONPATH=None, PIP_NO_INDEX="1"):
         _check_test_command_install_requirements(venv, tmpdir)
diff --git a/setuptools/version.py b/setuptools/version.py
index 75b2a14959a..ec253c41447 100644
--- a/setuptools/version.py
+++ b/setuptools/version.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from ._importlib import metadata
 
 try:
-    __version__ = metadata.version('setuptools')
+    __version__ = metadata.version('setuptools') or '0.dev0+unknown'
 except Exception:
-    __version__ = 'unknown'
+    __version__ = '0.dev0+unknown'