diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4fa6f46d..3494dcdb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -119,9 +119,6 @@ node_modules/
 .envrc
 .direnv/
 
-# setuptools_scm
-arango/version.py
-
 # test results
 *_results.txt
 
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 8098f23e..3da77633 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ repos:
     -   id: trailing-whitespace
 
 -   repo: https://github.com/psf/black
-    rev: 23.1.0
+    rev: 26.1.0
     hooks:
     -   id: black
 
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ repos:
         args: [ --profile, black ]
 
 -   repo: https://github.com/PyCQA/flake8
-    rev: 6.0.0
+    rev: 7.3.0
     hooks:
     -   id: flake8
 
diff --git a/arango/client.py b/arango/client.py
index b56755b0..627722e5 100644
--- a/arango/client.py
+++ b/arango/client.py
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 from json import dumps, loads
 from typing import Any, Callable, Optional, Sequence, Union
 
-import importlib_metadata
-
 from arango.connection import (
     BasicConnection,
     Connection,
@@ -27,6 +25,7 @@
     RoundRobinHostResolver,
     SingleHostResolver,
 )
+from arango.version import __version__
 
 
 def default_serializer(x: Any) -> str:
@@ -175,8 +174,7 @@ def version(self) -> str:
         :return: Client version.
         :rtype: str
         """
-        version: str = importlib_metadata.version("python-arango")
-        return version
+        return __version__
 
     @property
     def request_timeout(self) -> Any:
diff --git a/arango/collection.py b/arango/collection.py
index 2b13884a..0f43f397 100644
--- a/arango/collection.py
+++ b/arango/collection.py
@@ -871,9 +871,7 @@ def find_near(
         query = """
         FOR doc IN NEAR(@collection, @latitude, @longitude{})
             RETURN doc
-        """.format(
-            "" if limit is None else ", @limit "
-        )
+        """.format("" if limit is None else ", @limit ")
 
         bind_vars = {
             "collection": self._name,
@@ -996,9 +994,7 @@ def find_in_radius(
         query = """
         FOR doc IN WITHIN(@@collection, @latitude, @longitude, @radius{})
             RETURN doc
-        """.format(
-            "" if distance_field is None else ", @distance"
-        )
+        """.format("" if distance_field is None else ", @distance")
 
         bind_vars = {
             "@collection": self._name,
@@ -1080,7 +1076,7 @@ def build_coord_str_from_index(index: Json) -> str:
         coord_str = ""
         if index is None:
             # Find the first geo index
-            for collection_index in self.indexes():  # type:ignore[union-attr]
+            for collection_index in self.indexes():  # type: ignore[union-attr]
                 if collection_index["type"] == "geo":
                     coord_str = build_coord_str_from_index(collection_index)
                     break
@@ -1168,9 +1164,7 @@ def find_by_text(
         aql = """
         FOR doc IN FULLTEXT(@collection, @field, @query{})
             RETURN doc
-        """.format(
-            "" if limit is None else ", @limit"
-        )
+        """.format("" if limit is None else ", @limit")
 
         request = Request(
             method="post",
diff --git a/arango/request.py b/arango/request.py
index 66fb26ad..d9ddd83b 100644
--- a/arango/request.py
+++ b/arango/request.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from typing import Any, MutableMapping, Optional
 
 from arango.typings import DriverFlags, Fields, Headers, Params
+from arango.version import __version__
 
 
 def normalize_headers(
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ def normalize_headers(
     if driver_flags is not None:
         for flag in driver_flags:
             flags = flags + flag + ";"
-    driver_version = "8.2.5"
+    driver_version = __version__
     driver_header = "python-arango/" + driver_version + " (" + flags + ")"
     normalized_headers: Headers = {
         "charset": "utf-8",
diff --git a/arango/version.py b/arango/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a0c45555
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arango/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+__version__ = "8.2.6"
diff --git a/docs/requirements.txt b/docs/requirements.txt
index 7d6d37d6..8f3bf12b 100644
--- a/docs/requirements.txt
+++ b/docs/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 requests_toolbelt
-importlib_metadata
 PyJWT
 sphinx_rtd_theme
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c7bf486d..c4020c48 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ keywords = ["arangodb", "python", "driver"]
 readme = "README.md"
 dynamic = ["version"]
 license = { file = "LICENSE" }
-requires-python = ">=3.9"
+requires-python = ">=3.10"
 
 classifiers = [
     "Intended Audience :: Developers",
@@ -39,15 +39,16 @@ dependencies = [
     "requests",
     "requests_toolbelt",
     "PyJWT",
-    "setuptools>=42",
-    "importlib_metadata>=4.7.1",
     "packaging>=23.1",
 ]
 
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = { attr = "arango.version.__version__" }
+
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 dev = [
-    "black>=22.3.0",
-    "flake8>=4.0.1",
+    "black==26.1.0",
+    "flake8==7.3.0",
     "isort>=5.10.1",
     "mypy>=0.942",
     "mock",
diff --git a/tests/test_aql.py b/tests/test_aql.py
index 2672887c..b2defa01 100644
--- a/tests/test_aql.py
+++ b/tests/test_aql.py
@@ -110,9 +110,7 @@ def test_aql_query_management(db_version, db, sys_db, bad_db, col, docs):
         FOR d IN {col}
             UPDATE {{_key: d._key, _val: @val }} IN {col}
             RETURN NEW
-        """.format(
-            col=col.name
-        ),
+        """.format(col=col.name),
         count=True,
         # batch_size=1,
         ttl=10,
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 4da61e47..22078d29 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import pickle
 from typing import Union
 
-import importlib_metadata
 import pytest
 from requests import Session
 
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@
 from arango.exceptions import ArangoClientError, ServerConnectionError
 from arango.http import DefaultHTTPClient, DeflateRequestCompression
 from arango.resolver import FallbackHostResolver, RandomHostResolver, SingleHostResolver
+from arango.version import __version__
 from tests.helpers import (
     generate_col_name,
     generate_db_name,
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ def test_client_attributes(url):
     http_client = DefaultHTTPClient()
 
     client = ArangoClient(hosts=url, http_client=http_client)
-    assert client.version == importlib_metadata.version("python-arango")
+    assert client.version == __version__
     assert client.hosts == [url]
 
     assert repr(client) == f"<ArangoClient {url}>"
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def test_client_attributes(url):
         serializer=json.dumps,
         deserializer=json.loads,
     )
-    assert client.version == importlib_metadata.version("python-arango")
+    assert client.version == __version__
     assert client.hosts == client_hosts
     assert repr(client) == client_repr
     assert isinstance(client._host_resolver, FallbackHostResolver)
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def test_client_attributes(url):
         serializer=json.dumps,
         deserializer=json.loads,
     )
-    assert client.version == importlib_metadata.version("python-arango")
+    assert client.version == __version__
     assert client.hosts == client_hosts
     assert repr(client) == client_repr
     assert isinstance(client._host_resolver, RandomHostResolver)
diff --git a/tests/test_cursor.py b/tests/test_cursor.py
index 184d7ed8..6a0ad720 100644
--- a/tests/test_cursor.py
+++ b/tests/test_cursor.py
@@ -113,9 +113,7 @@ def test_cursor_write_query(db, col, docs):
         FOR d IN {col} FILTER d._key == @first OR d._key == @second
         UPDATE {{_key: d._key, _val: @val }} IN {col}
         RETURN NEW
-        """.format(
-            col=col.name
-        ),
+        """.format(col=col.name),
         bind_vars={"first": "1", "second": "2", "val": 42},
         count=True,
         batch_size=1,