diff --git a/xarray/core/formatting_html.py b/xarray/core/formatting_html.py
index 2a480427d4e..41183b91f60 100644
--- a/xarray/core/formatting_html.py
+++ b/xarray/core/formatting_html.py
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from functools import lru_cache, partial
 from html import escape
-
-import pkg_resources
+from importlib import resources
 
 from .formatting import inline_variable_array_repr, short_data_repr
 from .options import _get_boolean_with_default
@@ -15,7 +14,7 @@
 def _load_static_files():
     """Lazily load the resource files into memory the first time they are needed"""
     return [
-        pkg_resources.resource_string("xarray", fname).decode("utf8")
+        resources.files("xarray").joinpath(fname).read_bytes().decode("utf8")
         for fname in STATIC_FILES
     ]