diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 54491ce..f3c4929 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "taskgraph"
 description = "Parallel task graph framework"
 readme = "README.rst"
-requires-python = ">=3.6"
+requires-python = ">=3.8"
 license = {file = "LICENSE.txt"}
 maintainers = [
     {name = "Natural Capital Alliance Software Team"}
@@ -24,9 +24,14 @@ classifiers = [
     "License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License"
 ]
 # the version is provided dynamically by setuptools_scm
-# `dependencies` and `optional-dependencies` are provided by setuptools
-# using the corresponding setup args `install_requires` and `extras_require`
-dynamic = ["version", "dependencies", "optional-dependencies"]
+dynamic = ["version"]
+dependencies = [
+    "retrying>=1.3.0",
+]
+
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+niced_processes = ["psutil"]
+
 
 [build-system]
 requires = [
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index ae9f6b2..0000000
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-# requirements.txt
-# --------------------
-# This file records the packages and requirements needed in order for
-# taskgraph to work as expected.
-
-retrying>=1.3.0
-importlib_metadata  # technically only required on python < 3.8; easier to install with conda across all versions
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 9200ac2..0000000
--- a/setup.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-"""taskgraph setup.py."""
-from setuptools import setup
-
-_REQUIREMENTS = [
-    x for x in open('requirements.txt').read().split('\n')
-    if not x.startswith('#') and len(x) > 0]
-
-LONG_DESCRIPTION = '%s\n\n%s' % (
-    open('README.rst').read(),
-    open('HISTORY.rst').read())
-
-setup(
-    name='taskgraph',
-    use_scm_version={'version_scheme': 'post-release',
-                     'local_scheme': 'node-and-date'},
-    setup_requires=['setuptools_scm'],
-    description='Parallel task graph framework.',
-    long_description=LONG_DESCRIPTION,
-    url='https://github.com/natcap/taskgraph',
-    packages=['taskgraph'],
-    license='BSD',
-    keywords='parallel multiprocessing distributed computing',
-    install_requires=_REQUIREMENTS,
-    extras_require={
-        'niced_processes': ['psutil'],
-        },
-    classifiers=[
-        'Intended Audience :: Developers',
-        'Topic :: System :: Distributed Computing',
-        'Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable',
-        'Natural Language :: English',
-        'Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS X',
-        'Operating System :: Microsoft',
-        'Operating System :: POSIX',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12',
-
-        'License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License'
-    ])
diff --git a/taskgraph/Task.py b/taskgraph/Task.py
index 4ab8379..c13a19a 100644
--- a/taskgraph/Task.py
+++ b/taskgraph/Task.py
@@ -14,13 +14,8 @@
 import sqlite3
 import threading
 import time
-try:
-    from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError
-    from importlib.metadata import version
-except ImportError:
-    # importlib.metadata added to stdlib in 3.8
-    from importlib_metadata import PackageNotFoundError
-    from importlib_metadata import version
+from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError
+from importlib.metadata import version
 
 import retrying