diff --git a/python/ray/parameter.py b/python/ray/parameter.py
index 873333555..752d2c694 100644
--- a/python/ray/parameter.py
+++ b/python/ray/parameter.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import logging
 
 import numpy as np
-from packaging import version
 
 import ray.ray_constants as ray_constants
 
@@ -208,6 +207,9 @@ class RayParams:
             raise DeprecationWarning(
                 "The redirect_output argument is deprecated.")
 
-        if version.parse(np.__version__) < version.parse("1.16.0"):
+        # Parse the numpy version.
+        numpy_version = np.__version__.split(".")
+        numpy_major, numpy_minor = int(numpy_version[0]), int(numpy_version[1])
+        if numpy_major <= 1 and numpy_minor < 16:
             logger.warning("Using ray with numpy < 1.16.0 will result in slow "
                            "serialization. Upgrade numpy if using with ray.")
diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
index e84cfe59f..2dd1638ce 100644
--- a/python/setup.py
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -171,9 +171,9 @@ def find_version(*filepath):
 
 
 requires = [
-    "numpy >= 1.16", "filelock", "jsonschema", "click", "colorama",
-    "packaging", "pyyaml", "redis >= 3.3.2", "protobuf >= 3.8.0",
-    "py-spy >= 0.2.0", "aiohttp", "google", "grpcio"
+    "numpy >= 1.16", "filelock", "jsonschema", "click", "colorama", "pyyaml",
+    "redis >= 3.3.2", "protobuf >= 3.8.0", "py-spy >= 0.2.0", "aiohttp",
+    "google", "grpcio"
 ]
 
 setup(