When launching EC2 instances on AWS, you might need to install and run the CloudFormation helper scripts (https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/TemplateReference/releasehistory-aws-cfn-bootstrap.html).
However, since February 2026, as of the latest CloudFormation helper scripts version 2.0-38 (released on 2025-12-04), installing them works fine, but running for example cfn-init causes an error:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pkg_resources'
The reason is this in the Setuptools 82.0.0 release notes:
v82.0.0
08 Feb 2026
Deprecations and Removals
pkg_resourceshas been removed from Setuptools.
Until AWS fixes the helper scripts to remove the requirement for pkg_resources module, you will need to pin Setuptools to a version lower than 82:
/your/venv/path/bin/pip install "setuptools<82"
Note that pkg_resources had been deprecated for quite a while, for example:
v67.5.0
05 Mar 2023
Changes
- #3843: Although
pkg_resourceshas been discouraged for use, some projects still considerpkg_resourcesviable for usage. This change makes it clear thatpkg_resourcesshould not be used, emitting aDeprecationWarningwhen imported.