diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 7db5f93b..54a00fe0 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ module github.com/containernetworking/cni
 go 1.21
 
 require (
-	github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.2.1
 	github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.19.0
 	github.com/onsi/gomega v1.33.1
 	github.com/vishvananda/netns v0.0.4
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index ecbacb80..ca00b627 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.2.1 h1:RN9w6+7QoMeJVGyfmbcgs28Br8cvmnucEXnY0rYXWg0=
-github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.2.1/go.mod h1:qvl/7zhW3nngYb5+80sSMF+FG2BjYrf8m9wsX0PNOMQ=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.1 h1:pKouT5E8xu9zeFC39JXRDukb6JFQPXM5p5I91188VAQ=
diff --git a/libcni/conf.go b/libcni/conf.go
index daab839f..1d1b821c 100644
--- a/libcni/conf.go
+++ b/libcni/conf.go
@@ -20,11 +20,10 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
-	"github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3"
-
 	"github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/version"
 )
@@ -92,24 +91,20 @@ func ConfListFromBytes(bytes []byte) (*NetworkConfigList, error) {
 	rawVersions, ok := rawList["cniVersions"]
 	if ok {
 		// Parse the current package CNI version
-		currentVersion, err := semver.NewVersion(version.Current())
-		if err != nil {
-			panic("CNI version is invalid semver!")
-		}
-
 		rvs, ok := rawVersions.([]interface{})
 		if !ok {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing configuration list: invalid type for cniVersions: %T", rvs)
 		}
-		vs := make([]*semver.Version, 0, len(rvs))
+		vs := make([]string, 0, len(rvs))
 		for i, rv := range rvs {
 			v, ok := rv.(string)
 			if !ok {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing configuration list: invalid type for cniVersions index %d: %T", i, rv)
 			}
-			if v, err := semver.NewVersion(v); err != nil {
+			gt, err := version.GreaterThan(v, version.Current())
+			if err != nil {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing configuration list: invalid cniVersions entry %s at index %d: %w", v, i, err)
-			} else if !v.GreaterThan(currentVersion) {
+			} else if !gt {
 				// Skip versions "greater" than this implementation of the spec
 				vs = append(vs, v)
 			}
@@ -117,16 +112,25 @@ func ConfListFromBytes(bytes []byte) (*NetworkConfigList, error) {
 
 		// if cniVersion was already set, append it to the list for sorting.
 		if cniVersion != "" {
-			if v, err := semver.NewVersion(cniVersion); err != nil {
+			gt, err := version.GreaterThan(cniVersion, version.Current())
+			if err != nil {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing configuration list: invalid cniVersion %s: %w", cniVersion, err)
-			} else if !v.GreaterThan(currentVersion) {
+			} else if !gt {
 				// ignore any versions higher than the current implemented spec version
-				vs = append(vs, v)
+				vs = append(vs, cniVersion)
 			}
 		}
-		sort.Sort(semver.Collection(vs))
+		slices.SortFunc[[]string](vs, func(v1, v2 string) int {
+			if v1 == v2 {
+				return 0
+			}
+			if gt, _ := version.GreaterThan(v1, v2); gt {
+				return 1
+			}
+			return -1
+		})
 		if len(vs) > 0 {
-			cniVersion = vs[len(vs)-1].String()
+			cniVersion = vs[len(vs)-1]
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/version/plugin.go b/pkg/version/plugin.go
index 17b22b6b..e3bd375b 100644
--- a/pkg/version/plugin.go
+++ b/pkg/version/plugin.go
@@ -142,3 +142,27 @@ func GreaterThanOrEqualTo(version, otherVersion string) (bool, error) {
 	}
 	return false, nil
 }
+
+// GreaterThan returns true if the first version is greater than the second
+func GreaterThan(version, otherVersion string) (bool, error) {
+	firstMajor, firstMinor, firstMicro, err := ParseVersion(version)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	secondMajor, secondMinor, secondMicro, err := ParseVersion(otherVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	if firstMajor > secondMajor {
+		return true, nil
+	} else if firstMajor == secondMajor {
+		if firstMinor > secondMinor {
+			return true, nil
+		} else if firstMinor == secondMinor && firstMicro > secondMicro {
+			return true, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return false, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/version/version_test.go b/pkg/version/version_test.go
index 2ddf5eb4..3f8f85e9 100644
--- a/pkg/version/version_test.go
+++ b/pkg/version/version_test.go
@@ -139,4 +139,22 @@ var _ = Describe("Version operations", func() {
 			Expect(conf.PrevResult).To(BeNil())
 		})
 	})
+
+	Context("version parsing", func() {
+		It("parses versions correctly", func() {
+			v1 := "1.1.0"
+			v2 := "1.1.1"
+
+			check := func(a, b string, want bool) {
+				GinkgoHelper()
+				gt, err := version.GreaterThan(a, b)
+				Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+				Expect(gt).To(Equal(want))
+			}
+
+			check(v1, v2, false)
+			check(v2, v1, true)
+			check(v2, v2, false)
+		})
+	})
 })