diff --git a/docker/transport/ssladapter.py b/docker/transport/ssladapter.py
index 31e3014ea..bdca1d045 100644
--- a/docker/transport/ssladapter.py
+++ b/docker/transport/ssladapter.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 """
 import sys
 
-from distutils.version import StrictVersion
+from packaging.version import Version
 from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
 
 from docker.transport.basehttpadapter import BaseHTTPAdapter
@@ -70,4 +70,4 @@ def can_override_ssl_version(self):
             return False
         if urllib_ver == 'dev':
             return True
-        return StrictVersion(urllib_ver) > StrictVersion('1.5')
+        return Version(urllib_ver) > Version('1.5')
diff --git a/docker/utils/utils.py b/docker/utils/utils.py
index 7b2290991..3683ac546 100644
--- a/docker/utils/utils.py
+++ b/docker/utils/utils.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import shlex
 import string
 from datetime import datetime
-from distutils.version import StrictVersion
+from packaging.version import Version
 
 from .. import errors
 from ..constants import DEFAULT_HTTP_HOST
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ def compare_version(v1, v2):
     >>> compare_version(v2, v2)
     0
     """
-    s1 = StrictVersion(v1)
-    s2 = StrictVersion(v2)
+    s1 = Version(v1)
+    s2 = Version(v2)
     if s1 == s2:
         return 0
     elif s1 > s2:
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index c74d8cea2..7bcca763e 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ cryptography==3.4.7
 enum34==1.1.6
 idna==2.5
 ipaddress==1.0.18
-packaging==16.8
+packaging==21.3
 paramiko==2.10.1
 pycparser==2.17
 pyOpenSSL==18.0.0
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3be63ba65..833de3aa7 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 SOURCE_DIR = os.path.join(ROOT_DIR)
 
 requirements = [
+    'packaging',
     'websocket-client >= 0.32.0',
     'requests >= 2.14.2, != 2.18.0',
 ]