diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml
index 877f823c..59dfcc38 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: neongeckocom/.github/.github/workflows/python_build_tests.yml@master
   skill_object_tests:
     strategy:
+      max-parallel: 2
       matrix:
         python-version: [ 3.9, '3.10', '3.11', '3.12' ]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/neon_utils/packaging_utils.py b/neon_utils/packaging_utils.py
index a8d7ea42..cde4d034 100644
--- a/neon_utils/packaging_utils.py
+++ b/neon_utils/packaging_utils.py
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@
 from typing import Tuple, Optional, List
 from tempfile import mkstemp
 
-import pkg_resources
 import sysconfig
 
 from os.path import exists, join, isfile
@@ -63,13 +62,16 @@ def get_package_version_spec(pkg: str):
     """
     Locate an installed package and return its reported version
     :param pkg: string package name to locate
-    :returns: Version string as reported by pkg_resources
-    :raises: ModuleNotFoundError if requested package isn't installed
+    :returns: Version string as reported by importlib.metadata
+    :raises: PackageNotFoundError if requested package isn't installed
     """
     try:
-        return pkg_resources.get_distribution(pkg).version
-    except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
-        raise ModuleNotFoundError(f"{pkg} not found")
+        from importlib.metadata import version
+    except ImportError:
+        # Fallback for Python < 3.8
+        from importlib_metadata import version
+    
+    return version(pkg)
 
 
 def get_package_dependencies(pkg: str):
@@ -77,15 +79,20 @@ def get_package_dependencies(pkg: str):
     Get the dependencies for an installed package
     :param pkg: string package name to evaluate
     :returns: list of string dependencies (equivalent to requirements.txt)
-    :raises ModuleNotFoundError if requested package isn't installed
+    :raises PackageNotFoundError if requested package isn't installed
     """
     try:
-        constraints = pkg_resources.working_set.by_key[pkg].requires()
-        constraints_spec = [str(c).split('[', 1)[0] for c in constraints]
-        LOG.debug(constraints_spec)
-        return constraints_spec
-    except KeyError:
-        raise ModuleNotFoundError(f"{pkg} not found")
+        from importlib.metadata import requires
+    except ImportError:
+        # Fallback for Python < 3.8
+        from importlib_metadata import requires
+    
+    requirements = requires(pkg)
+    if requirements is None:
+        return []
+    constraints_spec = [req.split('[', 1)[0].split(';', 1)[0] for req in requirements]
+    LOG.debug(constraints_spec)
+    return constraints_spec
 
 
 @deprecated("Reference `neon_core.version.__version__` directly", "2.0.0")
diff --git a/tests/packaging_util_tests.py b/tests/packaging_util_tests.py
index 8a8c2077..6a7e67a5 100644
--- a/tests/packaging_util_tests.py
+++ b/tests/packaging_util_tests.py
@@ -114,13 +114,18 @@ def test_get_packaged_core_version(self):
 
     def test_get_package_dependencies(self):
         self_deps = get_package_dependencies("neon-utils")
-        requirements_file = join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)),
-                                 "requirements", "requirements.txt")
-        with open(requirements_file) as f:
-            spec_requirements = f.read().split('\n')
+        requirements_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)), "requirements")
+        spec_requirements = []
+        for _, _, files in os.walk(requirements_dir):
+            for file in files:
+                with open(os.path.join(requirements_dir, file)) as f:
+                    spec_requirements += f.read().split('\n')
+
         spec_requirements = [r for r in spec_requirements
                              if r and not r.startswith('#')]
+
         # Version specs aren't order-dependent, so they can't be compared
+        # Also, constraints are normalized so elements cannot be compared
         self.assertEqual(len(self_deps), len(spec_requirements))
         with self.assertRaises(ModuleNotFoundError):
             get_package_dependencies("fakeneongeckopackage")