diff --git a/distutils/config.py b/distutils/config.py
index f92ecb96..e0defd77 100644
--- a/distutils/config.py
+++ b/distutils/config.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 """
 
 import os
+import email.message
 from configparser import RawConfigParser
 
 from .cmd import Command
@@ -121,11 +122,8 @@ def _read_pypirc(self):  # noqa: C901
 
     def _read_pypi_response(self, response):
         """Read and decode a PyPI HTTP response."""
-        import cgi
-
         content_type = response.getheader('content-type', 'text/plain')
-        encoding = cgi.parse_header(content_type)[1].get('charset', 'ascii')
-        return response.read().decode(encoding)
+        return response.read().decode(_extract_encoding(content_type))
 
     def initialize_options(self):
         """Initialize options."""
@@ -139,3 +137,15 @@ def finalize_options(self):
             self.repository = self.DEFAULT_REPOSITORY
         if self.realm is None:
             self.realm = self.DEFAULT_REALM
+
+
+def _extract_encoding(content_type):
+    """
+    >>> _extract_encoding('text/plain')
+    'ascii'
+    >>> _extract_encoding('text/html; charset="utf8"')
+    'utf8'
+    """
+    msg = email.message.EmailMessage()
+    msg['content-type'] = content_type
+    return msg['content-type'].params.get('charset', 'ascii')