diff --git a/src/gt4py/cartesian/backend/pyext_builder.py b/src/gt4py/cartesian/backend/pyext_builder.py
index d2aa34bdae..e12669ae0f 100644
--- a/src/gt4py/cartesian/backend/pyext_builder.py
+++ b/src/gt4py/cartesian/backend/pyext_builder.py
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 
 import contextlib
 import copy
-import distutils
-import distutils.sysconfig
 import io
 import os
 import shutil
@@ -23,6 +21,7 @@
 
 import pybind11
 import setuptools
+from setuptools import distutils
 from setuptools.command.build_ext import build_ext
 
 from gt4py.cartesian import config as gt_config