diff --git a/pyomo/common/cmake_builder.py b/pyomo/common/cmake_builder.py
index 71358c29fb2..bb612b43b72 100644
--- a/pyomo/common/cmake_builder.py
+++ b/pyomo/common/cmake_builder.py
@@ -32,11 +32,8 @@ def handleReadonly(function, path, excinfo):
 def build_cmake_project(
     targets, package_name=None, description=None, user_args=[], parallel=None
 ):
-    # Note: setuptools must be imported before distutils to avoid
-    # warnings / errors with recent setuptools distributions
-    from setuptools import Extension
-    import distutils.core
-    from distutils.command.build_ext import build_ext
+    from setuptools import Extension, Distribution
+    from setuptools.command.build_ext import build_ext
 
     class _CMakeBuild(build_ext, object):
         def run(self):
@@ -122,7 +119,7 @@ def __init__(self, target_dir, user_args, parallel):
         'ext_modules': ext_modules,
         'cmdclass': {'build_ext': _CMakeBuild},
     }
-    dist = distutils.core.Distribution(package_config)
+    dist = Distribution(package_config)
     basedir = os.path.abspath(os.path.curdir)
     try:
         tmpdir = os.path.abspath(tempfile.mkdtemp())
diff --git a/pyomo/contrib/appsi/build.py b/pyomo/contrib/appsi/build.py
index 2a4e7bb785e..2c8d02dd3ac 100644
--- a/pyomo/contrib/appsi/build.py
+++ b/pyomo/contrib/appsi/build.py
@@ -63,8 +63,7 @@ def get_appsi_extension(in_setup=False, appsi_root=None):
 
 def build_appsi(args=[]):
     print('\n\n**** Building APPSI ****')
-    import setuptools
-    from distutils.dist import Distribution
+    from setuptools import Distribution
     from pybind11.setup_helpers import build_ext
     import pybind11.setup_helpers
     from pyomo.common.envvar import PYOMO_CONFIG_DIR
diff --git a/pyomo/contrib/mcpp/build.py b/pyomo/contrib/mcpp/build.py
index 95246e5278e..55c893335d2 100644
--- a/pyomo/contrib/mcpp/build.py
+++ b/pyomo/contrib/mcpp/build.py
@@ -64,8 +64,8 @@ def _generate_configuration():
 
 
 def build_mcpp():
-    import distutils.core
-    from distutils.command.build_ext import build_ext
+    from setuptools import Distribution
+    from setuptools.command.build_ext import build_ext
 
     class _BuildWithoutPlatformInfo(build_ext, object):
         # Python3.x puts platform information into the generated SO file
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def get_ext_filename(self, ext_name):
     print("\n**** Building MCPP library ****")
     package_config = _generate_configuration()
     package_config['cmdclass'] = {'build_ext': _BuildWithoutPlatformInfo}
-    dist = distutils.core.Distribution(package_config)
+    dist = Distribution(package_config)
     install_dir = os.path.join(envvar.PYOMO_CONFIG_DIR, 'lib')
     dist.get_command_obj('install_lib').install_dir = install_dir
     try:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b019abe91cb..dae62e72ca0 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -19,8 +19,10 @@
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages, Command
 
 try:
+    # This works beginning in setuptools 40.7.0 (27 Jan 2019)
     from setuptools import DistutilsOptionError
 except ImportError:
+    # Needed for setuptools prior to 40.7.0
     from distutils.errors import DistutilsOptionError