diff --git a/foqus_lib/gui/main/mainWindow.py b/foqus_lib/gui/main/mainWindow.py
index 19fcc08a5..92083603c 100644
--- a/foqus_lib/gui/main/mainWindow.py
+++ b/foqus_lib/gui/main/mainWindow.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
 
 try:
     from importlib import metadata
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
+except ImportError:
     import importlib_metadata as metadata
 from typing import Dict
 from types import ModuleType
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b4999cf58..afc6ee5c5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@
         "TurbineClient ~= 4.0, >= 4.0.3",
         "winshell; sys_platform == 'win32'",
         "websocket_client>=1.1.0",
+        "importlib_metadata; python_version < '3.8'",
     ],
 )