diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 81514361..ac8fd1a0 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     # - src/rosdistro/__init__.py
     # - stdeb.cfg
     'version': '1.0.1',
-    'install_requires': ['PyYAML', 'setuptools'],
+    'install_requires': ['packaging>=16.8.0', 'PyYAML', 'setuptools'],
     'python_requires': '>=3.6',
     'packages': find_packages('src'),
     'package_dir': {'': 'src'},
diff --git a/src/rosdistro/vcs.py b/src/rosdistro/vcs.py
index 76448a1e..001ba6b1 100644
--- a/src/rosdistro/vcs.py
+++ b/src/rosdistro/vcs.py
@@ -36,7 +36,40 @@
 import re
 import subprocess
 
-from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+from packaging.version import parse, InvalidVersion
+try:
+    from packaging.version import LegacyVersion
+    packaging_lte_22 = True
+except ImportError:
+    packaging_lte_22 = False
+
+
+def _version_gte(version: str, required_version: str) -> bool:
+    """Check if a version string is greater than or equal to a required version.
+
+    Args:
+        version: The version string to check.
+        required_version: The required version string.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if the version is greater than or equal to the required version, False otherwise.
+    """
+    try:
+        parsed_version = parse(version)
+        if packaging_lte_22:
+            # In packaging 22.0 and earlier, parse() returns a LegacyVersion for non-standard version strings,
+            # which will compare greater than any valid version. We want to raise an error instead.
+            if isinstance(parsed_version, LegacyVersion):
+                raise InvalidVersion
+    except InvalidVersion:
+        if "windows" in version.lower():
+            # Git for Windows uses a non-standard version string
+            version = version.lower().replace("windows", "post").strip()
+            parsed_version = parse(version)
+        else:
+            raise
+
+    return parsed_version >= parse(required_version)
 
 
 class Git(object):
@@ -57,7 +90,8 @@ def version_gte(cls, version):
         if not cls._client_version:
             result = cls().command('--version')
             cls._client_version = result['output'].split()[-1]
-        return LooseVersion(cls._client_version) >= LooseVersion(version)
+
+        return _version_gte(cls._client_version, version)
 
 
 def ref_is_hash(ref):
diff --git a/stdeb.cfg b/stdeb.cfg
index 1b430c35..37045d55 100644
--- a/stdeb.cfg
+++ b/stdeb.cfg
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Debian-Version: 100
 ; rosdistro-modules same version as in:
 ; - setup.py
 ; - src/rosdistro/__init__.py
-Depends3: ca-certificates, python3-rosdistro-modules (>= 1.0.1), python3-setuptools, python3-yaml
+Depends3: ca-certificates, python3-packaging (>=16.8.0), python3-rosdistro-modules (>= 1.0.1), python3-setuptools, python3-yaml
 Conflicts3: python-rosdistro
 Copyright-File: LICENSE.txt
 Suite3: focal jammy noble bookworm trixie
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ X-Python3-Version: >= 3.6
 Setup-Env-Vars: SKIP_PYTHON_MODULES=1
 
 [rosdistro_modules]
-Depends3: ca-certificates, python3-catkin-pkg-modules, python3-rospkg-modules, python3-setuptools, python3-yaml
+Depends3: ca-certificates, python3-catkin-pkg-modules, python3-packaging (>=16.8.0), python3-rospkg-modules, python3-setuptools, python3-yaml
 Conflicts3: python3-rosdistro (<< 0.6.0)
 Replaces3: python3-rosdistro (<< 0.6.0)
 Copyright-File: LICENSE.txt
diff --git a/test/test_vcs.py b/test/test_vcs.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aac1e721
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_vcs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from rosdistro.vcs import _version_gte
+
+import pytest
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version, required_version, expected", [
+    ("2.50.0", "2.51.0", False),
+    ("2.51.0", "2.51.0", True),
+    ("2.52.0", "2.51.0", True),
+    ("2.51.0-rc1", "2.51.0", False),
+    ("2.51.0-rc1", "2.51.0-rc1", True),
+    ("2.51.0-rc1", "2.51.0-rc2", False),
+    ("2.51.0-rc1", "2.51.0-rc0", True),
+    ("2.51.0-rc1", "2.51.0-rc0+post1", True),
+    ("2.51.0-rc1", "2.51.0-rc1+post1", False),
+    ("2.51.0.windows.1", "2.50.0", True),
+    ("2.51.0.windows.1", "2.51.0", True),
+    ("2.51.0.windows.1", "2.52", False),
+])
+def test_version_gte(version: str, required_version: str, expected: bool):
+    assert _version_gte(version, required_version) == expected