diff --git a/ctapipe/tools/quickstart.py b/ctapipe/tools/quickstart.py
index 3aab1aa459b..317d5723ab2 100644
--- a/ctapipe/tools/quickstart.py
+++ b/ctapipe/tools/quickstart.py
@@ -2,11 +2,7 @@
 Create a working directory for ctapipe-process containing standard
 configuration files.
 """
-try:
-    from importlib.resources import files
-except ImportError:
-    from importlib_resources import files
-
+from importlib.resources import files
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from ..core import Provenance, Tool, traits
diff --git a/ctapipe/tools/tests/test_merge.py b/ctapipe/tools/tests/test_merge.py
index aa295ed2e01..1e09ad044d3 100644
--- a/ctapipe/tools/tests/test_merge.py
+++ b/ctapipe/tools/tests/test_merge.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import shutil
 import tempfile
+from importlib.resources import files
 from io import StringIO
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -14,11 +15,6 @@
 from ctapipe.io.tests.test_astropy_helpers import assert_table_equal
 from ctapipe.tools.process import ProcessorTool
 
-try:
-    from importlib.resources import files
-except ImportError:
-    from importlib_resources import files
-
 
 def run_stage1(input_path, cwd, output_path=None):
     config = files("ctapipe").joinpath("resources", "stage1_config.json")
diff --git a/ctapipe/utils/datasets.py b/ctapipe/utils/datasets.py
index 4248809a681..cf50c1415ef 100644
--- a/ctapipe/utils/datasets.py
+++ b/ctapipe/utils/datasets.py
@@ -19,11 +19,7 @@
 except ImportError:
     has_resources = False
 
-try:
-    from importlib.resources import files
-except ImportError:
-    from importlib_resources import files
-
+from importlib.resources import files
 
 from ..core import Provenance
 
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 73574ddac5d..767a6b458f6 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ install_requires=
     docutils
     eventio >=1.9.1, <2.0.0a0
     iminuit >=2
-    importlib_resources ; python_version < "3.9"
     importlib_metadata  ; python_version < "3.10"
     joblib
     matplotlib ~=3.0