diff --git a/conftest.py b/conftest.py
index ee8dcf1c..d6ff8b6a 100644
--- a/conftest.py
+++ b/conftest.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import sys
-from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+from packaging.version import Version
 import sklearn
 
 import pytest
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ def pytest_collection_modifyitems(config, items):
     try:
         import numpy as np
 
-        if LooseVersion(np.__version__) < LooseVersion("1.14") or LooseVersion(
+        if Version(np.__version__) < Version("1.14") or Version(
             sklearn.__version__
-        ) < LooseVersion("0.23.0"):
+        ) < Version("0.23.0"):
             reason = (
                 "doctests are only run for numpy >= 1.14 "
                 "and scikit-learn >=0.23.0"
diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index fcb0d294..9a918045 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ dependencies:
   - numpy
   - scipy
   - scikit-learn
+  - packaging
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6c6399a5..f3e94be9 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -21,7 +21,12 @@
 LICENSE = "new BSD"
 DOWNLOAD_URL = "https://github.com/scikit-learn-contrib/scikit-learn-extra"
 VERSION = __version__  # noqa
-INSTALL_REQUIRES = ["numpy>=1.13.3", "scipy>=0.19.1", "scikit-learn>=0.23.0"]
+INSTALL_REQUIRES = [
+    "numpy>=1.13.3",
+    "scipy>=0.19.1",
+    "scikit-learn>=0.23.0",
+    "packaging",
+]
 CLASSIFIERS = [
     "Intended Audience :: Science/Research",
     "Intended Audience :: Developers",
diff --git a/sklearn_extra/cluster/_commonnn.py b/sklearn_extra/cluster/_commonnn.py
index 4683c0e6..57689792 100644
--- a/sklearn_extra/cluster/_commonnn.py
+++ b/sklearn_extra/cluster/_commonnn.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #
 # License: BSD 3 clause
 
-from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+from packaging.version import Version
 import warnings
 
 import numpy as np
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 import sklearn
 from sklearn.base import BaseEstimator, ClusterMixin
 
-if LooseVersion(sklearn.__version__) < LooseVersion("0.23.0"):
+if Version(sklearn.__version__) < Version("0.23.0"):
     from sklearn.utils import check_array, check_consistent_length
 
     # In scikit-learn version 0.23.x use