diff --git a/glue/main.py b/glue/main.py
index 0637c6d5e..fb6c3c9b6 100644
--- a/glue/main.py
+++ b/glue/main.py
@@ -41,9 +41,7 @@ def load_plugins(splash=None, require_qt_plugins=False, plugins_to_load=None):
     # where ``setup`` is a function that does whatever is needed to set up the
     # plugin, such as add items to various registries.
 
-    import setuptools
-    logger.info("Loading external plugins using "
-                "setuptools=={0}".format(setuptools.__version__))
+    logger.info("Loading external plugins")
 
     from glue._plugin_helpers import iter_plugin_entry_points, PluginConfig
     config = PluginConfig.load()
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 467f40c60..bdeb9e669 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ install_requires =
     echo>=0.6
     astropy>=4.0
     fast_histogram>=0.12
-    setuptools>=30.3.0
     ipython>=4.0
     dill>=0.2
     h5py>=2.10; python_version<'3.11'
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 89dd10c4a..29bf31777 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ deps =
     legacy: pandas==1.2.*
     legacy: echo==0.5.*
     legacy: astropy==4.0.*
-    legacy: setuptools==30.3.*
+    legacy: setuptools==30.3.* # required by mpl-scatter-density
     legacy: ipython==7.16.*
     legacy: ipykernel==5.3.*
     legacy: dill==0.2.*