diff --git a/eland/ml/_optional.py b/eland/ml/_optional.py
index 83e02df0..6e91c72e 100644
--- a/eland/ml/_optional.py
+++ b/eland/ml/_optional.py
@@ -15,11 +15,12 @@
 #  specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #  under the License.
 
-import distutils.version
 import importlib
 import warnings
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Optional
 
+import packaging.version
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from types import ModuleType
 
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@
 # The license for this library can be found NOTICE.txt and the code can be
 # https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pandas-dev/pandas/v1.0.1/pandas/compat/_optional.py
 
-VERSIONS = {"xgboost": "0.90", "sklearn": "0.22.1"}
+VERSIONS = {"xgboost": "0.90", "sklearn": "1.3"}
 
 # Update install.rst when updating versions!
 
@@ -104,7 +105,9 @@ def import_optional_dependency(
     minimum_version = VERSIONS.get(name)
     if minimum_version:
         version = _get_version(module)
-        if distutils.version.LooseVersion(version) < minimum_version:
+        if packaging.version.parse(version) < packaging.version.Version(
+            minimum_version
+        ):
             assert on_version in {"warn", "raise", "ignore"}
             msg = version_message.format(
                 minimum_version=minimum_version, name=name, actual_version=version
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3d6544cc..36e79a81 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@
         "pandas>=1.5,<2",
         "matplotlib>=3.6",
         "numpy>=1.2.0,<1.24",
+        "packaging",
     ],
     entry_points={
         "console_scripts": "eland_import_hub_model=eland.cli.eland_import_hub_model:main"