diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 929fb5b08..754757ece 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -41,8 +41,6 @@ jobs:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
       - name: Install system dependencies
         run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg libturbojpeg
-      - name: Upgrade Setuptools
-        run: pip install setuptools --upgrade
       - name: Build and install
         run: rm -rf .eggs && pip install -e .
       - name: Validate the installation
@@ -77,8 +75,6 @@ jobs:
         run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg libturbojpeg
       - name: Install PyTorch
         run: pip install torch==${{matrix.torch}}+cpu torchvision==${{matrix.torchvision}}+cpu -f https://download.pytorch.org/whl/torch_stable.html
-      - name: Upgrade Setuptools
-        run: pip install setuptools --upgrade
       - name: Build and install
         run: rm -rf .eggs && pip install -e .
       - name: Validate the installation
@@ -122,8 +118,6 @@ jobs:
         if: ${{matrix.torchvision == '0.4.2'}}
       - name: Install PyTorch
         run: pip install torch==${{matrix.torch}}+cpu torchvision==${{matrix.torchvision}}+cpu -f https://download.pytorch.org/whl/torch_stable.html
-      - name: Upgrade Setuptools
-        run: pip install setuptools --upgrade
       - name: Build and install
         run: rm -rf .eggs && pip install -e .
       - name: Validate the installation
@@ -194,8 +188,6 @@ jobs:
         run: pip install torch==${{matrix.torch}} torchvision==${{matrix.torchvision}} -f https://download.pytorch.org/whl/torch_stable.html
       - name: Install system dependencies
         run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg libturbojpeg
-      - name: Upgrade Setuptools
-        run: pip install setuptools --upgrade
       - name: Build and install
         run: rm -rf .eggs && pip install -e .
       - name: Validate the installation
@@ -266,8 +258,6 @@ jobs:
         run: pip install torch==${{matrix.torch}} torchvision==${{matrix.torchvision}} -f https://download.pytorch.org/whl/torch_stable.html
       - name: Install system dependencies
         run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg libturbojpeg
-      - name: Upgrade Setuptools
-        run: pip install setuptools --upgrade
       - name: Build and install
         run: rm -rf .eggs && pip install -e .
       - name: Validate the installation
@@ -320,8 +310,6 @@ jobs:
         if: ${{matrix.torchvision == '0.4.2'}}
       - name: Install PyTorch
         run: pip install torch==${{matrix.torch}} torchvision==${{matrix.torchvision}} --no-cache-dir
-      - name: Upgrade Setuptools
-        run: pip install setuptools --upgrade
       - name: Build and install
         run: |
           rm -rf .eggs
diff --git a/mmcv/utils/version_utils.py b/mmcv/utils/version_utils.py
index 55a88a65e..963c45a2e 100644
--- a/mmcv/utils/version_utils.py
+++ b/mmcv/utils/version_utils.py
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 import os
 import subprocess
 import warnings
-from pkg_resources import parse_version
+
+from packaging.version import parse
 
 
 def digit_version(version_str: str, length: int = 4):
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ def digit_version(version_str: str, length: int = 4):
         tuple[int]: The version info in digits (integers).
     """
     assert 'parrots' not in version_str
-    version = parse_version(version_str)
+    version = parse(version_str)
     assert version.release, f'failed to parse version {version_str}'
     release = list(version.release)
     release = release[:length]
diff --git a/mmcv/version.py b/mmcv/version.py
index 761628af0..c99f81f56 100644
--- a/mmcv/version.py
+++ b/mmcv/version.py
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 # Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
-
-from pkg_resources import parse_version
-
 __version__ = '1.3.10'
 
 
@@ -17,7 +14,8 @@ def parse_version_info(version_str: str, length: int = 4) -> tuple:
             (1, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0), and "2.0.0rc1" is parsed into
             (2, 0, 0, 0, 'rc', 1) (when length is set to 4).
     """
-    version = parse_version(version_str)
+    from packaging.version import parse
+    version = parse(version_str)
     assert version.release, f'failed to parse version {version_str}'
     release = list(version.release)
     release = release[:length]
@@ -32,6 +30,6 @@ def parse_version_info(version_str: str, length: int = 4) -> tuple:
     return tuple(release)
 
 
-version_info = parse_version_info(__version__)
+version_info = tuple(int(x) for x in __version__.split('.')[:3])
 
 __all__ = ['__version__', 'version_info', 'parse_version_info']
diff --git a/requirements/runtime.txt b/requirements/runtime.txt
index 173fc3378..66e90d674 100644
--- a/requirements/runtime.txt
+++ b/requirements/runtime.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 addict
 numpy
+packaging
 Pillow
 pyyaml
 regex;sys_platform=='win32'
-setuptools>=52
 yapf
diff --git a/requirements/test.txt b/requirements/test.txt
index 42644e152..ab4ecbd5c 100644
--- a/requirements/test.txt
+++ b/requirements/test.txt
@@ -6,5 +6,4 @@ onnxruntime==1.4.0
 pytest
 PyTurboJPEG
 scipy
-setuptools>=52
 tiffile
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 02476518e..086017725 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import glob
 import os
 import re
-from pkg_resources import DistributionNotFound, get_distribution, parse_version
+from pkg_resources import DistributionNotFound, get_distribution
 from setuptools import find_packages, setup
 
 EXT_TYPE = ''
@@ -220,10 +220,12 @@ def get_extensions():
         include_dirs = []
 
         is_rocm_pytorch = False
-        if parse_version(torch.__version__) >= parse_version('1.5'):
+        try:
             from torch.utils.cpp_extension import ROCM_HOME
             is_rocm_pytorch = True if ((torch.version.hip is not None) and
                                        (ROCM_HOME is not None)) else False
+        except ImportError:
+            pass
 
         project_dir = 'mmcv/ops/csrc/'
         if is_rocm_pytorch: