diff --git a/src/pynxtools/_build_wrapper.py b/_build_wrapper.py
similarity index 100%
rename from src/pynxtools/_build_wrapper.py
rename to _build_wrapper.py
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e3a5a81f2..51b266a36 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 [build-system]
 requires = ["setuptools>=64.0.1", "setuptools-scm[toml]>=6.2"]
-backend-path = ["src/pynxtools"]
 build-backend = "_build_wrapper"
 
 [project]
@@ -35,7 +34,6 @@ dependencies = [
     "importlib-metadata",
     "lxml>=4.9.1",
     "anytree",
-    "setuptools>=64.0.1"
 ]
 
 [project.urls]
diff --git a/tests/dataconverter/test_convert.py b/tests/dataconverter/test_convert.py
index 55570e4d0..3ee09e8a8 100644
--- a/tests/dataconverter/test_convert.py
+++ b/tests/dataconverter/test_convert.py
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@
 import logging
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
+import shutil
 
 import click
 import h5py
 import pytest
 from click.testing import CliRunner
-from setuptools import distutils
 
 import pynxtools.dataconverter.convert as dataconverter
 from pynxtools.dataconverter.readers.base.reader import BaseReader
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 
 def move_xarray_file_to_tmp(tmp_path):
     """Moves the xarray file, which is used to test linking into the tmp_path directory."""
-    distutils.file_util.copy_file(
+    shutil.copy(
         os.path.join(
             os.getcwd(), "src", "pynxtools", "data", "xarray_saved_small_calibration.h5"
         ),
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def restore_xarray_file_from_tmp(tmp_path):
             os.getcwd(), "src", "pynxtools", "data", "xarray_saved_small_calibration.h5"
         )
     )
-    distutils.file_util.move_file(
+    shutil.move(
         os.path.join(tmp_path, "xarray_saved_small_calibration.h5"),
         os.path.join(
             os.getcwd(), "src", "pynxtools", "data", "xarray_saved_small_calibration.h5"
diff --git a/tests/dataconverter/test_helpers.py b/tests/dataconverter/test_helpers.py
index 0401862db..32582b5e2 100644
--- a/tests/dataconverter/test_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/dataconverter/test_helpers.py
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@
 import os
 import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
 from typing import Optional
+import shutil
 
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
-from setuptools import distutils
 
 from pynxtools.dataconverter import helpers
 from pynxtools.dataconverter.template import Template
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def fixture_filled_test_data(template, tmp_path):
     # Copy original measurement file to tmp dir,
     # because h5py.ExternalLink is modifying it while
     # linking the nxs file.
-    distutils.file_util.copy_file(
+    shutil.copy(
         os.path.join(
             os.getcwd(), "src", "pynxtools", "data", "xarray_saved_small_calibration.h5"
         ),