diff --git a/jsonschema/__init__.py b/jsonschema/__init__.py
index f0bcd0d34..6b630cdfb 100644
--- a/jsonschema/__init__.py
+++ b/jsonschema/__init__.py
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
     RefResolver,
     validate,
 )
-
-import importlib_metadata
-__version__ = importlib_metadata.version("jsonschema")
+try:
+    from importlib import metadata
+except ImportError: # for Python<3.8
+    import importlib_metadata as metadata
+__version__ = metadata.version("jsonschema")
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 89885d842..c8290bd85 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ packages = find:
 setup_requires = setuptools_scm
 install_requires =
     attrs>=17.4.0
-    importlib_metadata
+    importlib_metadata;python_version<'3.8'
     pyrsistent>=0.14.0
     setuptools
     six>=1.11.0