diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f53517d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools >= 61.0"] # PEP 621 compliant
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "skyCatalogs"
+version = "1.3.0"
+description = "Writes, reads catalogs input to LSST DESC simulations"
+readme = "README.md"
+authors = [{ name = "Joanne Bogart", email = "jrb@slac.stanford.edu" }]
+license = { file = "LICENCE" }
+classifiers = [
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+]
+keywords = ["desc", "python", "catalog", "simulation"]
+dependencies = [
+    'numpy',
+    'healpy',
+    'astropy',
+    'pyarrow',
+    'pandas',
+    'importlib-metadata;python_version<"3.8"'
+]
+requires-python = ">=3.7" # For setuptools >= 61.0 support
+
+[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
+where = ["python"]
diff --git a/python/desc/skycatalogs/__init__.py b/python/desc/skycatalogs/__init__.py
index e82ba1ba..3661962a 100644
--- a/python/desc/skycatalogs/__init__.py
+++ b/python/desc/skycatalogs/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
-from ._version import *
+##from ._version import *
+try:
+    # For Python >= 3.8
+    from importlib import metadata
+except ImportError:
+    # For Python < 3.8
+    import importlib_metadata as metadata
+
+__version__ = metadata.version("skyCatalogs")
 from .skyCatalogs import *
 from .catalog_creator import *
diff --git a/python/desc/skycatalogs/_version.py b/python/desc/skycatalogs/_version.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d194b882..00000000
--- a/python/desc/skycatalogs/_version.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-#  Copied from imSim repo
-#
-# Conventions:
-#   M.m means a development version not ready for prime time yet.  Not stable
-#   M.m.r is a regular release:
-#      Intended to be API stable with previous M.x.y releases.
-#      New features may be added with the major (M) series, but the intent is to not
-#      break public API-based code from previous versions in the series.
-#      Updates that change the revision number (r) should only have bug fixes.
-#   M.m.r-* is some kind of prerelease or release candidate for alpha or beta testing.
-#
-# cf. https://semver.org/ for more info
-
-# This should be updated before a release.
-__version__ = '1.1.0'
-
-# This will work if the version has end tags like 2.0.0-rc.1
-__version_info__ = tuple(map(lambda x:int(x.split('-')[0]), __version__.split('.')))[:3]
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
deleted file mode 100644
index c505b0df..00000000
--- a/setup.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-import os
-import re
-
-from setuptools import setup, find_packages
-
-with open('README.md') as file:
-    long_description = file.read()
-
-packages = find_packages(where="python")
-print('packages = ', packages)
-
-def all_files_from(dir, ext=''):
-    """Quick function to get all files from directory and all subdirectories
-    """
-    files = []
-    for root, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(dir):
-        for filename in filenames:
-            if filename.endswith(ext) and not filename.startswith('.'):
-                files.append(os.path.join(root, filename))
-    return files
-
-# Need to clarify if this belongs in the distribution or not
-## shared_data = all_files_from('data')
-## print('shared_data = ', shared_data)
-
-## configs = [os.path.join('cfg', 'latest.yaml')]
-
-# Read in the version from python/desc/_version.py
-# cf. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/458550/standard-way-to-embed-version-into-python-package
-
-version_file = os.path.join('python', 'desc', 'skycatalogs', '_version.py')
-verstrline = open(version_file, "rt").read()
-VSRE = r"^__version__ = ['\"]([^'\"]*)['\"]"
-mo = re.search(VSRE, verstrline, re.M)
-if mo:
-    skycatalogs_version = mo.group(1)
-else:
-    raise RuntimeError("Unable to find version string in %s." % (version_file,))
-print('skyCatalogs version is %s'%(skycatalogs_version))
-
-dist = setup(name="skyCatalogs",
-             version=skycatalogs_version,
-             maintainer="Joanne Bogart",                 # also author line?
-             maintainer_email="jrb@slac.stanford.edu",
-             license="BSD",
-             description="Writes, reads catalogs input to LSST DESC simulations",
-             long_description=long_description,
-             package_dir={"": "python"},
-             packages=find_packages(where="python"),
-             ##package_data={"skycatalogs": shared_data + configs},
-             url="https://github.com/LSSTDESC/skyCatalogs",
-             classifiers=[
-                 "License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License",
-                 "Intended Audience :: Developers",
-                 "Intended Audience :: Science/Research",
-                 "Programming Language :: Python",
-                 "Development Status :: 3 - Alpha",
-                 ],
-             install_requires=['numpy', 'healpy', 'astropy',
-                               'pyarrow', 'pandas']
-             )