diff --git a/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/manage_rpm_macro.py b/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/manage_rpm_macro.py
index a080669..dee42eb 100644
--- a/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/manage_rpm_macro.py
+++ b/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/manage_rpm_macro.py
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 
 import os
 
-import pkg_resources
-
 
 def manage_rpm_macro(os_data, log, **kwargs):
     """
@@ -30,12 +28,16 @@ def manage_rpm_macro(os_data, log, **kwargs):
     """
     if os_data["os_family"] == "RedHat":
         rpm_macro = "/usr/lib/rpm/macros.d/macros.qubes"
-        if (os_data["id"] == "fedora"
-                and os_data["release"] < pkg_resources.parse_version("33")):
-            log.info("Old fedora version detected.")
-            with open(rpm_macro, "w") as file:
-                file.write("# CVE-2021-20271 mitigation\n"
-                           "%_pkgverify_level all")
+        if os_data["id"] == "fedora":
+            try:
+                version = int(os_data["release"].split(".")[0])
+            except ValueError:
+                version = 99  # fedora changed its version
+            if version < 33:
+                log.info("Old fedora version detected.")
+                with open(rpm_macro, "w") as file:
+                    file.write("# CVE-2021-20271 mitigation\n"
+                               "%_pkgverify_level all")
         else:
             if os.path.exists(rpm_macro):
                 os.remove(rpm_macro)
diff --git a/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/updatesproxy_fix.py b/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/updatesproxy_fix.py
index 6a4f2b8..74f387a 100644
--- a/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/updatesproxy_fix.py
+++ b/vmupdate/agent/source/plugins/updatesproxy_fix.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 
 import os
 import pathlib
-import pkg_resources
 
 
 def updatesproxy_fix(os_data, log, **kwargs):
diff --git a/vmupdate/agent/source/utils.py b/vmupdate/agent/source/utils.py
index d267b45..d486954 100644
--- a/vmupdate/agent/source/utils.py
+++ b/vmupdate/agent/source/utils.py
@@ -23,8 +23,6 @@
 import ast
 from typing import Optional, Dict, Any
 
-import pkg_resources
-
 
 def get_os_data(logger: Optional = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     """
@@ -34,7 +32,7 @@ def get_os_data(logger: Optional = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     id: "linux" or a lower-case string identifying the operating system,
     name: "Linux" or a string identifying the operating system,
     codename (optional): an operating system release code name,
-    release (optional): packaging.version.Version,
+    release (optional): version string,
     os_family: "Unknown", "RedHat", "Debian", "ArchLinux".
     """
     data = {}
@@ -49,7 +47,7 @@ def get_os_data(logger: Optional = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     data["name"] = os_release.get("NAME", "Linux").strip()
     if "VERSION_ID" in os_release:
         release = os_release["VERSION_ID"]
-        data["release"] = pkg_resources.parse_version(release)
+        data["release"] = release
     if "VERSION_CODENAME" in os_release:
         data["codename"] = os_release["VERSION_CODENAME"]