diff --git a/invertedai/__init__.py b/invertedai/__init__.py
index e5ba4d8..8e26b28 100644
--- a/invertedai/__init__.py
+++ b/invertedai/__init__.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import warnings
 import importlib.metadata
 __version__ = importlib.metadata.version("invertedai")
-from distutils.util import strtobool
 
 from invertedai.api.light import light
 from invertedai.api.location import location_info
@@ -23,6 +22,12 @@
 
 warnings.filterwarnings(action="once",message=".*agent_attributes.*")
 
+def strtobool(value: str) -> bool:
+  value = value.lower()
+  if value in ("y", "yes", "on", "1", "true", "t"):
+    return True
+  return False
+
 dev = strtobool(os.environ.get("IAI_DEV", "false"))
 if dev:
     dev_url = os.environ.get("IAI_DEV_URL", "http://localhost:8000")