diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/spectral-cube/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/spectral-cube/default.nix
index 12ccf31e64ca..ec7781c50b45 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/spectral-cube/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/spectral-cube/default.nix
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@
   casa-formats-io,
   dask,
   joblib,
-  looseversion,
+  numpy,
+  packaging,
   radio-beam,
+  tqdm,
 
   # checks
   aplpy,
@@ -27,16 +29,12 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   version = "0.6.6";
   pyproject = true;
 
-  disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
-
   src = fetchPypi {
     pname = "spectral_cube";
     inherit version;
     hash = "sha256-bjBghr5WrfC4NH5cyiy9RUiCmJSUHBtyD61bd1i/4kM=";
   };
 
-  patches = [ ./distutils-looseversion.patch ];
-
   build-system = [ setuptools-scm ];
 
   dependencies = [
@@ -44,9 +42,11 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     casa-formats-io
     dask
     joblib
-    looseversion
+    numpy
+    packaging
     radio-beam
-  ];
+    tqdm
+  ] ++ dask.optional-dependencies.array;
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [
     aplpy
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/spectral-cube/distutils-looseversion.patch b/pkgs/development/python-modules/spectral-cube/distutils-looseversion.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 857d37a1a88a..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/spectral-cube/distutils-looseversion.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,152 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/conftest.py b/spectral_cube/conftest.py
-index 0d7c158..6fac9b4 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/conftest.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/conftest.py
-@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
- from __future__ import print_function, absolute_import, division
- 
- import os
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- from astropy.units.equivalencies import pixel_scale
- 
- # Import casatools and casatasks here if available as they can otherwise
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/lower_dimensional_structures.py b/spectral_cube/lower_dimensional_structures.py
-index f0e3745..1b1e1f8 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/lower_dimensional_structures.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/lower_dimensional_structures.py
-@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ class Projection(LowerDimensionalObject, SpatialCoordMixinClass,
-                               " installed.")
- 
-         # Need version > 0.2 to work with cubes
--        from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+        from looseversion import LooseVersion
-         if LooseVersion(version) < "0.3":
-             raise Warning("Requires version >=0.3 of reproject. The current "
-                           "version is: {}".format(version))
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/np_compat.py b/spectral_cube/np_compat.py
-index ed4a134..39aa320 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/np_compat.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/np_compat.py
-@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
- from __future__ import print_function, absolute_import, division
- 
- import numpy as np
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- def allbadtonan(function):
-     """
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/spectral_cube.py b/spectral_cube/spectral_cube.py
-index 771a2d4..af752b4 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/spectral_cube.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/spectral_cube.py
-@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ from .spectral_axis import (determine_vconv_from_ctype, get_rest_value_from_wcs,
-                             doppler_beta, doppler_gamma, doppler_z)
- from .io.core import SpectralCubeRead, SpectralCubeWrite
- 
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- 
- __all__ = ['BaseSpectralCube', 'SpectralCube', 'VaryingResolutionSpectralCube']
-@@ -2659,7 +2659,7 @@ class BaseSpectralCube(BaseNDClass, MaskableArrayMixinClass,
- 
-         reproj_kwargs = kwargs
-         # Need version > 0.2 to work with cubes, >= 0.5 for memmap
--        from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+        from looseversion import LooseVersion
-         if LooseVersion(version) < "0.5":
-             raise Warning("Requires version >=0.5 of reproject. The current "
-                           "version is: {}".format(version))
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/tests/test_masks.py b/spectral_cube/tests/test_masks.py
-index c38ba27..1d6895d 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/tests/test_masks.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/tests/test_masks.py
-@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from .. import (BooleanArrayMask, LazyMask, LazyComparisonMask,
-                 FunctionMask, CompositeMask)
- from ..masks import is_broadcastable_and_smaller, dims_to_skip, view_of_subset
- 
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- 
- def test_spectral_cube_mask():
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/tests/test_moments.py b/spectral_cube/tests/test_moments.py
-index 3043dd5..7e05c5b 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/tests/test_moments.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/tests/test_moments.py
-@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
- from __future__ import print_function, absolute_import, division
- 
- import warnings
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- import pytest
- import numpy as np
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/tests/test_performance.py b/spectral_cube/tests/test_performance.py
-index bdee040..a778abc 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/tests/test_performance.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/tests/test_performance.py
-@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ except ImportError:
- 
- # The comparison of Quantities in test_memory_usage
- # fail with older versions of numpy
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- NPY_VERSION_CHECK = LooseVersion(np.version.version) >= "1.13"
- 
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/tests/test_regrid.py b/spectral_cube/tests/test_regrid.py
-index 496ddd5..5b1fec7 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/tests/test_regrid.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/tests/test_regrid.py
-@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ except ImportError:
- 
- # The comparison of Quantities in test_memory_usage
- # fail with older versions of numpy
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- NPY_VERSION_CHECK = LooseVersion(np.version.version) >= "1.13"
- 
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/tests/test_spectral_cube.py b/spectral_cube/tests/test_spectral_cube.py
-index 9ebeb7d..93e5647 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/tests/test_spectral_cube.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/tests/test_spectral_cube.py
-@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import operator
- import itertools
- import warnings
- import mmap
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- import sys
- 
- import pytest
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/tests/test_subcubes.py b/spectral_cube/tests/test_subcubes.py
-index 6f74f68..217c324 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/tests/test_subcubes.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/tests/test_subcubes.py
-@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
- from __future__ import print_function, absolute_import, division
- 
- import pytest
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- from astropy import units as u
- from astropy import wcs
-diff --git a/spectral_cube/tests/test_visualization.py b/spectral_cube/tests/test_visualization.py
-index 85ea038..0ac8d58 100644
---- a/spectral_cube/tests/test_visualization.py
-+++ b/spectral_cube/tests/test_visualization.py
-@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
- from __future__ import print_function, absolute_import, division
- 
- import pytest
--from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-+from looseversion import LooseVersion
- 
- from .test_spectral_cube import cube_and_raw
-