diff --git a/environment-dev.yml b/environment-dev.yml
index c866439c..2e11fe35 100644
--- a/environment-dev.yml
+++ b/environment-dev.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ channels:
   - conda-forge
   - defaults
 dependencies:
-  - python>=3.6,<3.11
+  - python>=3.8,<3.11
   - progressbar2
   - numpy
   - spatialist>=0.12.1
diff --git a/environment-doc.yml b/environment-doc.yml
index 59fe761d..509b43f6 100644
--- a/environment-doc.yml
+++ b/environment-doc.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ channels:
   - conda-forge
   - defaults
 dependencies:
-  - python>=3.6,<3.11
+  - python>=3.8,<3.11
   - matplotlib
   - numpy
   - sphinx<7.0  # https://github.com/readthedocs/sphinx_rtd_theme/issues/1463
diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 03a8b1f7..6a212bcc 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ channels:
   - conda-forge
   - defaults
 dependencies:
-  - python>=3.6,<3.11  # https://github.com/kvesteri/sqlalchemy-utils/issues/716
+  - python>=3.8,<3.11  # https://github.com/kvesteri/sqlalchemy-utils/issues/716
   - progressbar2
   - numpy
   - spatialist>=0.12.1
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 91b9d243..950d8cb9 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ requires = ["setuptools>=45", "setuptools_scm[toml]>=6.2", "wheel"]
 [project]
 name = "pyroSAR"
 description = "a framework for large-scale SAR satellite data processing"
-requires-python = ">=3.6,<3.11"
+requires-python = ">=3.8,<3.11"
 license = { file = "LICENSE.txt" }
 maintainers = [
     { name = "John Truckenbrodt", email = "john.truckenbrodt@dlr.de" }
diff --git a/pyroSAR/__init__.py b/pyroSAR/__init__.py
index b7d839bf..5a6c08eb 100644
--- a/pyroSAR/__init__.py
+++ b/pyroSAR/__init__.py
@@ -1,18 +1,10 @@
 from .drivers import *
-import sys
 from . import ancillary, drivers
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from importlib.metadata import version, PackageNotFoundError
-    try:
-        __version__ = version(__name__)
-    except PackageNotFoundError:
-        # package is not installed
-        pass
-else:
-    from pkg_resources import get_distribution, DistributionNotFound
-    try:
-        __version__ = get_distribution(__name__).version
-    except DistributionNotFound:
-        # package is not installed
-        pass
+from importlib.metadata import version, PackageNotFoundError
+
+try:
+    __version__ = version(__name__)
+except PackageNotFoundError:
+    # package is not installed
+    pass
diff --git a/pyroSAR/examine.py b/pyroSAR/examine.py
index 33504f8d..01837d36 100644
--- a/pyroSAR/examine.py
+++ b/pyroSAR/examine.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ###############################################################################
 # Examination of SAR processing software
-# Copyright (c) 2019-2023, the pyroSAR Developers.
+# Copyright (c) 2019-2024, the pyroSAR Developers.
 
 # This file is part of the pyroSAR Project. It is subject to the
 # license terms in the LICENSE.txt file found in the top-level
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import warnings
 import subprocess as sp
-import pkg_resources
+import importlib.resources
 
 from pyroSAR._dev_config import ConfigHandler
 from spatialist.ancillary import finder, run
@@ -71,14 +71,14 @@ def __init__(self):
         # point it to the default file delivered with pyroSAR
         if not hasattr(self, 'properties'):
             # log.info('using default properties file..')
-            template = os.path.join('snap', 'data', 'snap.auxdata.properties')
-            self.properties = pkg_resources.resource_filename(__name__, template)
+            dir_data = importlib.resources.files('pyroSAR') / 'snap' / 'data'
+            self.properties = str(dir_data / 'snap.auxdata.properties')
         
         # if the SNAP suffices attribute was not yet identified,
         # point it to the default file delivered with pyroSAR
         if not hasattr(self, 'suffices'):
-            template = os.path.join('snap', 'data', 'snap.suffices.properties')
-            fname_suffices = pkg_resources.resource_filename(__name__, template)
+            dir_data = importlib.resources.files('pyroSAR') / 'snap' / 'data'
+            fname_suffices = str(dir_data / 'snap.suffices.properties')
             with open(fname_suffices, 'r') as infile:
                 content = infile.read().split('\n')
             self.__suffices = {k: v for k, v in [x.split('=') for x in content]}
@@ -381,6 +381,7 @@ class ExamineGamma(object):
     >>> print(config.version)
     
     """
+    
     def __init__(self):
         home_sys = os.environ.get('GAMMA_HOME')
         if home_sys is not None and not os.path.isdir(home_sys):