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<@ULVA73B9P> pip show prefect returns the list of libraries without importlib_metadata. It is, however, used in prefect, at lease in workers/base.py without conditions. So `prefect version` fails
Name: prefect
Version: 3.6.28
Summary: Workflow orchestration and management.
Home-page:
Author:
Author-email: "Prefect Technologies, Inc." &lt;<mailto:help@prefect.io|help@prefect.io>&gt;
License: Apache-2.0
Location: /nfs/ub-03/iramskyi/Projects/Prefect/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages
Requires: aiosqlite, alembic, amplitude-analytics, anyio, apprise, asgi-lifespan, asyncpg, cachetools, click, cloudpickle, coolname, cryptography, cyclopts, dateparser, docker, exceptiongroup, fastapi, fsspec, graphviz, griffe, httpcore, httpx, humanize, jinja2, jinja2-humanize-extension, jsonpatch, jsonschema, opentelemetry-api, orjson, packaging, pathspec, pendulum, pluggy, prometheus-client, pydantic, pydantic-core, pydantic-extra-types, pydantic-settings, pydocket, python-dateutil, python-slugify, pytz, pyyaml, readchar, rfc3339-validator, rich, ruamel-yaml, ruamel-yaml-clib, semver, sniffio, sqlalchemy, toml, typing-extensions, uvicorn, websockets
Required-by:

:white_check_mark: thought for 176.7 seconds

Yes — this looks like a real bug in Prefect `3.6.28`.

*What’s happening*

Prefect `3.6.28` imports `importlib_metadata` directly in `prefect/workers/base.py`, but that package is *not* listed as an install requirement. On Python `3.10`, that’s especially incorrect because the stdlib module `importlib.metadata` should be used instead.

The problematic import is effectively:

```  
from importlib_metadata import distributions
```

But for Python 3.10+, it should be:

```  
from importlib.metadata import distributions
```

*Why `prefect version` can fail*

Although `prefect version` itself uses the stdlib import correctly in the CLI code, importing other Prefect modules can still trigger the bad import path from `workers/base.py`, causing the command to fail if `importlib_metadata` is not installed.

*Confirmed status*

This was fixed upstream in Prefect `3.7.2`:
<https://github.com/PrefectHQ/prefect/pull/22012|PR #22012 - use stdlib importlib.metadata instead of importlib_metadata backport>

*Recommended fix*

Upgrade Prefect:

```  
pip install --upgrade 'prefect&gt;=3.7.2'
```

*Temporary workaround*

If you need to stay on `3.6.28`, install the backport explicitly:

```  
pip install importlib-metadata
```

*Summary*

- `prefect 3.6.28` has an undeclared dependency bug
- `importlib_metadata` is imported unconditionally in `workers/base.py`
- On Python `3.10+`, this should use `importlib.metadata`
- Fixed in `3.7.2+`

If you want, I can also help you identify the *exact import chain* that makes `prefect version` hit `workers/base.py` in your environment.