diff --git a/gradio/__init__.py b/gradio/__init__.py
index 03a9072774..3f3783ac56 100644
--- a/gradio/__init__.py
+++ b/gradio/__init__.py
@@ -67,5 +67,5 @@ from gradio.templates import (
     Webcam,
 )
 
-current_pkg_version = pkgutil.get_data(__name__, "version.txt").decode('ascii').strip()
+current_pkg_version = pkgutil.get_data(__name__, "version.txt").decode("ascii").strip()
 __version__ = current_pkg_version
diff --git a/gradio/utils.py b/gradio/utils.py
index 50477d16fe..b22040fb1b 100644
--- a/gradio/utils.py
+++ b/gradio/utils.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import inspect
 import json
 import json.decoder
 import os
+import pkgutil
 import random
 import sys
 import warnings
@@ -38,7 +39,9 @@ JSON_PATH = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(gradio.__file__), "launches.json")
 
 def version_check():
     try:
-        current_pkg_version = pkg_resources.require("gradio")[0].version
+        current_pkg_version = (
+            pkgutil.get_data(__name__, "version.txt").decode("ascii").strip()
+        )
         latest_pkg_version = requests.get(url=PKG_VERSION_URL).json()["version"]
         if StrictVersion(latest_pkg_version) > StrictVersion(current_pkg_version):
             print(
@@ -49,10 +52,6 @@ def version_check():
                 )
             )
             print("--------")
-    except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
-        warnings.warn(
-            "gradio is not setup or installed properly. Unable to get version info."
-        )
     except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
         warnings.warn("unable to parse version details from package URL.")
     except KeyError:
diff --git a/test/test_utils.py b/test/test_utils.py
index c9de3a21ca..0103028103 100644
--- a/test/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/test_utils.py
@@ -37,18 +37,6 @@ os.environ["GRADIO_ANALYTICS_ENABLED"] = "False"
 
 
 class TestUtils(unittest.TestCase):
-    @mock.patch("pkg_resources.require")
-    def test_should_fail_with_distribution_not_found(self, mock_require):
-        mock_require.side_effect = pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound()
-
-        with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as w:
-            warnings.simplefilter("always")
-            version_check()
-            self.assertEqual(
-                str(w[-1].message),
-                "gradio is not setup or installed properly. Unable to get version info.",
-            )
-
     @mock.patch("requests.get")
     def test_should_warn_with_unable_to_parse(self, mock_get):
         mock_get.side_effect = json.decoder.JSONDecodeError("Expecting value", "", 0)