diff --git a/newsfragments/48.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/48.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4194e345
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/48.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove optional dependency only required on unsupported Python versions.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index c1e98a15..e02c803e 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ packages = find_namespace:
 include_package_data = true
 python_requires = >=3.8
 install_requires =
-	importlib_metadata; python_version < "3.8"
 
 [options.packages.find]
 exclude =