diff --git a/packages/python/plotly/codegen/__init__.py b/packages/python/plotly/codegen/__init__.py
index b57654ed06..af49097466 100644
--- a/packages/python/plotly/codegen/__init__.py
+++ b/packages/python/plotly/codegen/__init__.py
@@ -270,8 +270,8 @@ def perform_codegen():
 if sys.version_info < (3, 7) or TYPE_CHECKING:
     try:
         import ipywidgets as _ipywidgets
-        from distutils.version import LooseVersion as _LooseVersion
-        if _LooseVersion(_ipywidgets.__version__) >= _LooseVersion("7.0.0"):
+        from packaging.version import Version as _Version
+        if _Version(_ipywidgets.__version__) >= _Version("7.0.0"):
             from ..graph_objs._figurewidget import FigureWidget
         else:
             raise ImportError()
@@ -284,9 +284,9 @@ def __getattr__(import_name):
         if import_name == "FigureWidget":
             try:
                 import ipywidgets
-                from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+                from packaging.version import Version
 
-                if LooseVersion(ipywidgets.__version__) >= LooseVersion("7.0.0"):
+                if Version(ipywidgets.__version__) >= Version("7.0.0"):
                     from ..graph_objs._figurewidget import FigureWidget
 
                     return FigureWidget