diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f9fafadf..d9f3a2d8 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -188,28 +188,17 @@ def finalize_options(self):
                         need_cythonize = True
 
         if need_cythonize:
-            import pkg_resources
-
             # Double check Cython presence in case setup_requires
             # didn't go into effect (most likely because someone
             # imported Cython before setup_requires injected the
             # correct egg into sys.path.
             try:
-                import Cython
+                from Cython.Build import cythonize
             except ImportError:
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     'please install {} to compile asyncpg from source'.format(
                         CYTHON_DEPENDENCY))
 
-            cython_dep = pkg_resources.Requirement.parse(CYTHON_DEPENDENCY)
-            if Cython.__version__ not in cython_dep:
-                raise RuntimeError(
-                    'asyncpg requires {}, got Cython=={}'.format(
-                        CYTHON_DEPENDENCY, Cython.__version__
-                    ))
-
-            from Cython.Build import cythonize
-
             directives = {
                 'language_level': '3',
                 'freethreading_compatible': 'True',