diff --git a/plotly/graph_reference.py b/plotly/graph_reference.py
index a9ae8df067e..9ac39a76f21 100644
--- a/plotly/graph_reference.py
+++ b/plotly/graph_reference.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 import os
 import re
-from pkg_resources import resource_string
+import pkgutil
 
 import six
 from requests.compat import json as _json
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def get_graph_reference():
 
     """
     path = os.path.join('package_data', 'plot-schema.json')
-    s = resource_string('plotly', path).decode('utf-8')
+    s = pkgutil.get_data('plotly', path).decode('utf-8')
     graph_reference = utils.decode_unicode(_json.loads(s))
 
     # TODO: Patch in frames info until it hits streambed. See #659
diff --git a/plotly/offline/offline.py b/plotly/offline/offline.py
index 1ba236596a9..2a8876ad5c6 100644
--- a/plotly/offline/offline.py
+++ b/plotly/offline/offline.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import os
 import uuid
 import warnings
-from pkg_resources import resource_string
+import pkgutil
 import time
 import webbrowser
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def download_plotlyjs(download_url):
 
 def get_plotlyjs():
     path = os.path.join('package_data', 'plotly.min.js')
-    plotlyjs = resource_string('plotly', path).decode('utf-8')
+    plotlyjs = pkgutil.get_data('plotly', path).decode('utf-8')
     return plotlyjs
 
 def get_image_download_script(caller):
diff --git a/plotly/tests/test_core/test_graph_reference/test_graph_reference.py b/plotly/tests/test_core/test_graph_reference/test_graph_reference.py
index f81cc79e9f2..13d3083a3b4 100644
--- a/plotly/tests/test_core/test_graph_reference/test_graph_reference.py
+++ b/plotly/tests/test_core/test_graph_reference/test_graph_reference.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
 import os
-from pkg_resources import resource_string
 from unittest import TestCase
 
 from nose.plugins.attrib import attr
diff --git a/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py b/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py
index 451adf223bd..d514c63a18b 100644
--- a/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py
+++ b/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 """
 import uuid
 from collections import deque
-from pkg_resources import resource_string
+import pkgutil
 
 from requests.compat import json as _json
 
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@
 # Load JS widget code
 # No officially recommended way to do this in any other way
 # http://mail.scipy.org/pipermail/ipython-dev/2014-April/013835.html
-js_widget_code = resource_string('plotly',
-                                 'package_data/graphWidget.js').decode('utf-8')
+js_widget_code = pkgutil.get_data('plotly',
+                                  'package_data/graphWidget.js'
+                                  ).decode('utf-8')
 
 display(Javascript(js_widget_code))