diff --git a/qutebrowser/misc/crashdialog.py b/qutebrowser/misc/crashdialog.py
index dbb473b4e..64cccde83 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/misc/crashdialog.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/misc/crashdialog.py
@@ -24,9 +24,8 @@ import sys
 import html
 import getpass
 import traceback
-import distutils.version  # pylint: disable=no-name-in-module,import-error
-# https://bitbucket.org/logilab/pylint/issue/73/
 
+import pkg_resources
 from PyQt5.QtCore import pyqtSlot, Qt, QSize, qVersion
 from PyQt5.QtWidgets import (QDialog, QLabel, QTextEdit, QPushButton,
                              QVBoxLayout, QHBoxLayout, QCheckBox,
@@ -328,8 +327,8 @@ class _CrashDialog(QDialog):
         """
         # pylint: disable=no-member
         # https://bitbucket.org/logilab/pylint/issue/73/
-        new_version = distutils.version.StrictVersion(newest)
-        cur_version = distutils.version.StrictVersion(qutebrowser.__version__)
+        new_version = pkg_resources.parse_version(newest)
+        cur_version = pkg_resources.parse_version(qutebrowser.__version__)
         lines = ['The report has been sent successfully. Thanks!']
         if new_version > cur_version:
             lines.append("<b>Note:</b> The newest available version is v{}, "
diff --git a/qutebrowser/utils/qtutils.py b/qutebrowser/utils/qtutils.py
index 6573306ab..8073b4bbb 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/utils/qtutils.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/utils/qtutils.py
@@ -31,10 +31,9 @@ import io
 import os
 import sys
 import operator
-import distutils.version  # pylint: disable=no-name-in-module,import-error
-# https://bitbucket.org/logilab/pylint/issue/73/
 import contextlib
 
+import pkg_resources
 from PyQt5.QtCore import (qVersion, QEventLoop, QDataStream, QByteArray,
                           QIODevice, QSaveFile)
 from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication
@@ -60,8 +59,8 @@ def version_check(version, op=operator.ge):
     """
     # pylint: disable=no-member
     # https://bitbucket.org/logilab/pylint/issue/73/
-    return op(distutils.version.StrictVersion(qVersion()),
-              distutils.version.StrictVersion(version))
+    return op(pkg_resources.parse_version(qVersion()),
+              pkg_resources.parse_version(version))
 
 
 def check_overflow(arg, ctype, fatal=True):