diff --git a/ansible_mitogen/utils.py b/ansible_mitogen/utils.py
index 25c5a692..a01b261d 100644
--- a/ansible_mitogen/utils.py
+++ b/ansible_mitogen/utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
 __metaclass__ = type
 
-import distutils.version
+import re
 
 import ansible
 
@@ -9,6 +9,21 @@ __all__ = [
     'ansible_version',
 ]
 
-ansible_version = tuple(distutils.version.LooseVersion(ansible.__version__).version)
-del distutils
+
+def _parse(v_string):
+    # Adapted from distutils.version.LooseVersion.parse()
+    component_re = re.compile(r'(\d+ | [a-z]+ | \.)', re.VERBOSE)
+    for component in component_re.split(v_string):
+        if not component or component == '.':
+            continue
+        try:
+            yield int(component)
+        except ValueError:
+            yield component
+
+
+ansible_version = tuple(_parse(ansible.__version__))
+
+del _parse
+del re
 del ansible