diff --git a/ipyleaflet/_version.py b/ipyleaflet/_version.py
index 66502f308..57ad7c4f6 100644
--- a/ipyleaflet/_version.py
+++ b/ipyleaflet/_version.py
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@
 
 version_info = (0, 17, 3)
 
-__version__ = '%s.%s.%s' % (version_info[0], version_info[1], version_info[2])
+__version__ = '.'.join(map(str, version_info))
 
 EXTENSION_VERSION = '^0.17'
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index fa729c7c8..d1b570e38 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,4 +1,47 @@
 [build-system]
-# avoid 3.6 so we don't need the rust buildchain
-requires = ["jupyter_packaging~=0.12", "jupyterlab>=3.0.0,<3.6", "setuptools>=40.8.0", "wheel"]
+requires = ["jupyter_packaging~=0.12", "jupyterlab>=3.0.0,<3.6", "setuptools>=61.2", "wheel"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "ipyleaflet"
+version = "0.17.3"
+description = "A Jupyter widget for dynamic Leaflet maps"
+keywords = ["ipython", "jupyter", "widgets", "graphics", "GIS"]
+classifiers = [
+    "Development Status :: 4 - Beta",
+    "Intended Audience :: Developers",
+    "Intended Audience :: Science/Research",
+    "Topic :: Multimedia :: Graphics",
+    "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
+]
+requires-python = ">=3.7"
+dependencies = [
+    "ipywidgets>=7.6.0,<9",
+    "traittypes>=0.2.1,<3",
+    "xyzservices>=2021.8.1",
+    "branca>=0.5.0",
+]
+
+[[project.authors]]
+name = "Project Jupyter"
+email = "jupyter@googlegroups.com"
+
+[project.license]
+text = "MIT"
+
+[project.readme]
+file = "README.md"
+content-type = "text/markdown"
+
+[project.urls]
+Homepage = "https://github.com/jupyter-widgets/ipyleaflet"
+
+[tool.setuptools]
+include-package-data = true
+license-files = ["LICENSE"]
+packages = ["ipyleaflet"]
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
deleted file mode 100644
index 0c9e0fc14..000000000
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-[metadata]
-license_file = LICENSE
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a17037ca6..378caf0a2 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,32 +1,16 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+from pathlib import Path
+from setuptools import setup
 
-import os
-from setuptools import setup, find_packages
+from jupyter_packaging import *
 
-from jupyter_packaging import (
-    create_cmdclass,
-    install_npm,
-    ensure_targets,
-    combine_commands,
-    get_version,
-    skip_if_exists
-)
-
-# the name of the package
-name = 'ipyleaflet'
-long_description = 'A Jupyter widget for dynamic Leaflet maps'
-
-here = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+ROOT = Path(__file__).parent
 
-# Get ipyleaflet version
-version = get_version(os.path.join(name, '_version.py'))
-
-js_dir = os.path.join(here, 'js')
+js_dir = ROOT / 'js'
 
 # Representative files that should exist after a successful build
 jstargets = [
-    os.path.join('ipyleaflet/nbextension', 'index.js'),
-    os.path.join('ipyleaflet/labextension', 'package.json'),
+    str(Path('ipyleaflet/nbextension')/'index.js'),
+    str(Path('ipyleaflet/labextension')/'package.json'),
 ]
 
 data_files_spec = [
@@ -37,48 +21,11 @@
 
 cmdclass = create_cmdclass('jsdeps', data_files_spec=data_files_spec)
 js_command = combine_commands(
-    install_npm(js_dir, npm=["yarn"], build_cmd='build'), ensure_targets(jstargets),
+    install_npm(js_dir, npm=["yarn"], build_cmd='build'),
+    ensure_targets(jstargets),
 )
 
-is_repo = os.path.exists(os.path.join(here, '.git'))
-if is_repo:
-    cmdclass['jsdeps'] = js_command
-else:
-    cmdclass['jsdeps'] = skip_if_exists(jstargets, js_command)
-
-setup_args = dict(
-    name=name,
-    version=version,
-    description='A Jupyter widget for dynamic Leaflet maps',
-    long_description=long_description,
-    license='MIT License',
-    python_requires = ">=3.7",
-    include_package_data=True,
-    install_requires=[
-        'ipywidgets>=7.6.0,<9',
-        'traittypes>=0.2.1,<3',
-        'xyzservices>=2021.8.1',
-        'branca>=0.5.0'
-    ],
-    packages=find_packages(),
-    zip_safe=False,
-    cmdclass=cmdclass,
-    author='Project Jupyter',
-    author_email='jupyter@googlegroups.com',
-    url='https://github.com/jupyter-widgets/ipyleaflet',
-    keywords=['ipython', 'jupyter', 'widgets', 'graphics', 'GIS'],
-    classifiers=[
-        'Development Status :: 4 - Beta',
-        'Intended Audience :: Developers',
-        'Intended Audience :: Science/Research',
-        'Topic :: Multimedia :: Graphics',
-        'License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10'
-    ],
-)
+is_repo = (ROOT / '.git').exists()
+cmdclass['jsdeps'] = js_command if is_repo else skip_if_exists(jstargets, js_command)
 
-setup(**setup_args)
+setup(cmdclass=cmdclass)