diff --git a/.github/workflows/image-main.yml b/.github/workflows/image-main.yml
index 17470aab3..eb9646a91 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/image-main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/image-main.yml
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - run: |
           # build and publish the main image
-          # Use {GITHUB_SHA::8} for shorter SHA
-          export VERSION="${GITHUB_SHA}"
+          # The version on main will be 0.0.0+<commit-sha>-main
+          export VERSION="0.0.0+${GITHUB_SHA}-main"
           ./.github/scripts/image.sh
         env:
           CONTAINER_USER: '${{ secrets.DOCKER_USER }}'
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a11d13726..843f5be09 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -152,34 +152,34 @@ if(NOT DEFINED VERSION)
             # Git succeeded, we will use the DEFAULT_VERSION as the QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION
             set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION ${DEFAULT_VERSION})
          else()
-            # The git command failed, set QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION to "UNKNOWN" 
-            set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "UNKNOWN")
+            # The git command failed, set QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION to "0.0.0" 
+            set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "0.0.0")
          endif(GIT_RESULT EQUAL 0)
       else(BRANCH_NAME STREQUAL "HEAD")
-          # If the BRANCH_NAME is not HEAD, get the commit sha of the latest commit and
-          # set that as the version.
+          # If the BRANCH_NAME is not HEAD (means you are on a branch, get the commit sha of the latest commit and
+          # set the version as 0.0.0+<latest-commit-sha>-branch name. This is PEP 440 compliant.
           # For example, if you are on the main branch and the most recent commit is 68df4e1346b9238ef8f71b9ae0dcdd49eec73c9a,
-          # the router version will print as 68df4e1346b9238ef8f71b9ae0dcdd49eec73c9a(main)
+          # the router version will print as 0.0.0+68df4e1346b9238ef8f71b9ae0dcdd49eec73c9a-main
           execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} rev-parse HEAD
                           OUTPUT_VARIABLE COMMIT_SHA
                           OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
           message(STATUS "COMMIT_SHA is ${COMMIT_SHA}")
-          set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "${COMMIT_SHA}(${BRANCH_NAME})")      
+          set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "0.0.0+${COMMIT_SHA}-${BRANCH_NAME}")      
       endif(BRANCH_NAME STREQUAL "HEAD")
    else(Git_FOUND)
-       # Git executable was not available, we will not be able to determine the version, just set it to "UNKNOWN"
-       set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "UNKNOWN")
+       # Git executable was not available, we will not be able to determine the version, just set it to "0.0.0"
+       set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "0.0.0")
    endif(Git_FOUND)
    
 else(NOT DEFINED VERSION)
 
    # What if VERSION is defined but someone passed in an empty value for VERSION? Deal with that case here.
    if (VERSION STREQUAL "")
-      set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "UNKNOWN")
+      set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "0.0.0")
    else()
       string(STRIP ${VERSION} VERSION)
       if (VERSION STREQUAL "")
-          set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "UNKNOWN")
+          set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION "0.0.0")
       else()
           set(QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION ${VERSION})
       endif()
diff --git a/Containerfile b/Containerfile
index cb2ff247b..102825162 100644
--- a/Containerfile
+++ b/Containerfile
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ ENV LWS_SOURCE_URL=${LWS_SOURCE_URL:-https://github.com/warmcat/libwebsockets/ar
 ENV LIBUNWIND_SOURCE_URL=${LIBUNWIND_SOURCE_URL:-https://github.com/libunwind/libunwind/archive/refs/tags/${LIBUNWIND_VERSION}.tar.gz}
 ENV PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig
 
-ARG VERSION=UNKNOWN
+ARG VERSION=0.0.0
 ENV VERSION=$VERSION
 RUN .github/scripts/compile.sh
 RUN tar zxpf /qpid-proton-image.tar.gz --one-top-level=/image && tar zxpf /skupper-router-image.tar.gz --one-top-level=/image && tar zxpf /libwebsockets-image.tar.gz --one-top-level=/image && tar zxpf /libunwind-image.tar.gz --one-top-level=/image
diff --git a/packaging/skupper-router.spec b/packaging/skupper-router.spec
index 510e7b608..6cd785799 100644
--- a/packaging/skupper-router.spec
+++ b/packaging/skupper-router.spec
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 %global libunwind_minimum_version 1.3.1
 
 Name:          skupper-router
-Version:       2.x.y
+Version:       0.0.0
 Release:       1%{?dist}
 Summary:       The skrouterd router daemon for Skupper.io
 License:       ASL 2.0
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ BuildRequires: cmake
 # skupper-router requirements
 BuildRequires: python3-devel
 BuildRequires: python3-setuptools
+BuildRequires: python3-pip
 BuildRequires: libwebsockets-devel >= %{libwebsockets_minimum_version}
 BuildRequires: libnghttp2-devel >= %{libnghttp2_minimum_version}
 BuildRequires: libunwind-devel >= %{libunwind_minimum_version}
diff --git a/python/CMakeLists.txt b/python/CMakeLists.txt
index 9af63a2fc..6fcbc24d8 100644
--- a/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,15 +20,29 @@
 # Private python modules, not in standard python site dir.
 install(DIRECTORY skupper_router_internal DESTINATION ${QPID_DISPATCH_HOME}/python)
 
-configure_file(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/setup.py.in
-               ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/setup.py)
+# Copy the public python modules into a build/python/src folder.
+# We do this because, pip install, by default, will look into a src folder
+# and automatically figure out python packaging and installs the files
+# in the appropriate location.
 
-configure_file(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/skupper_router_site.py.in
-               ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/skupper_router_site.py)
+add_custom_target(NAME ALL
+                  COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/src/skupper_router
+                  COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/_skupper_router_site.py ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/src/skupper_router)
 
-# Install script for public python modules
-install(CODE "execute_process(COMMAND ${Python_EXECUTABLE} setup.py -v install --single-version-externally-managed --record=/dev/null --prefix=${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX} WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})")
+configure_file(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router/_skupper_router_site.py.in
+               ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/_skupper_router_site.py)
 
+configure_file(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/pyproject.toml.in
+               ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/pyproject.toml)
+
+# Use pip install to install the public python modules.
+# --compile option compiles Python source files to bytecode
+install(CODE
+        "execute_process( \
+        COMMAND ${Python_EXECUTABLE} -m pip install ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR} --ignore-installed --verbose --compile --prefix=\$ENV{DESTDIR}${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX} \
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR} \
+        COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT \
+        COMMAND_ERROR_IS_FATAL ANY)")
 install(FILES
   ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/skupper_router/management/skrouter.json
   ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/skupper_router/management/skrouter.json.readme.txt
diff --git a/python/pyproject.toml.in b/python/pyproject.toml.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aa328bfa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/pyproject.toml.in
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+
+[project]
+name="skupper_router"
+description = "Skupper Router tools and libraries"
+version = '${QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION}'
+authors = [
+    { name = "Skupper Project", email = "skupper@googlegroups.com" }
+]
+requires-python = ">=3.9"
+
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools", "wheel"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[tool.skupper_router]
+homepage = "https://skupper.io/"
+repository = "https://github.com/skupperproject/skupper-router/"
+
+[tool.setuptools]
+# By default, include-package-data is true in pyproject.toml, so you do
+# NOT have to specify this line.
+include-package-data = true
+
+[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
+where = ["src"]
+
+[tool.setuptools.package-data]
+"*" = ["*.json"]
diff --git a/python/setup.py.in b/python/setup.py.in
deleted file mode 100755
index d0b87f3d0..000000000
--- a/python/setup.py.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-#
-# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-# distributed with this work for additional information
-# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
-# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
-# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
-# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
-# specific language governing permissions and limitations
-# under the License.
-#
-
-from setuptools import setup
-from setuptools.command.build_py import build_py
-from os.path import join
-from os import environ
-
-"""Install public packages and scripts for Qpid Dispatch."""
-
-
-class BuildPy(build_py):
-    """Extend standard build command, add generated modules from binary directory."""
-
-    MODULES = ['skupper_router_site.py']
-
-    def run(self):
-        build_py.run(self)      # Run the standard build, copies source .py files into builddir
-        for m in self.MODULES:
-            build_py.copy_file(self, join('${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}', m), join(self.build_lib, m))
-
-    def get_outputs(self, **kwargs):
-        return build_py.get_outputs(self, **kwargs) + [join(self.build_lib, m) for m in self.MODULES]
-
-
-options = {}
-destdir = environ.get("DESTDIR")
-if destdir:
-    options["install"] = {"root": destdir}
-
-setup(
-    options=options,
-
-    name='skupper_router',
-    description='Skupper Router tools and libraries.',
-    package_dir={'' : '${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python'},
-    packages=['skupper_router', 'skupper_router.management'],
-    package_data={'skupper_router.management': ['*.json']},
-    cmdclass={'build_py': BuildPy},
-
-    version='${QPID_DISPATCH_VERSION}',
-    author='Skupper Project',
-    author_email='skupper@googlegroups.com',
-    url='https://skupper.io/',
-    license='Apache Software License',
-
-    zip_safe=False,
-)
diff --git a/python/skupper_router_site.py.in b/python/skupper_router/_skupper_router_site.py.in
similarity index 100%
rename from python/skupper_router_site.py.in
rename to python/skupper_router/_skupper_router_site.py.in
diff --git a/python/skupper_router_internal/management/agent.py b/python/skupper_router_internal/management/agent.py
index 5fe807774..65e77ad73 100644
--- a/python/skupper_router_internal/management/agent.py
+++ b/python/skupper_router_internal/management/agent.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@
 
 from ctypes import c_void_p, py_object, c_long
 
-import skupper_router_site
+from skupper_router._skupper_router_site import SKIP_DELETE_HTTP_LISTENER
 from skupper_router.management.entity import camelcase
 from skupper_router.management.error import ManagementError, OK, CREATED, NO_CONTENT, STATUS_TEXT, \
     BadRequestStatus, InternalServerErrorStatus, NotImplementedStatus, NotFoundStatus
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ def __str__(self):
         return super(ListenerEntity, self).__str__().replace("Entity(", "ListenerEntity(")
 
     def _delete(self):
-        if self.http and skupper_router_site.SKIP_DELETE_HTTP_LISTENER:
+        if self.http and SKIP_DELETE_HTTP_LISTENER:
             raise BadRequestStatus("HTTP listeners cannot be deleted")
         self._qd.qd_connection_manager_delete_listener(self._dispatch, self._implementations[0].key)
 
diff --git a/python/skupper_router_internal/tools/command.py b/python/skupper_router_internal/tools/command.py
index df6cb35c7..5538cdb4b 100644
--- a/python/skupper_router_internal/tools/command.py
+++ b/python/skupper_router_internal/tools/command.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 import argparse
 import os
 
-from skupper_router_site import VERSION
+from skupper_router._skupper_router_site import VERSION
 from proton import SSLDomain, Url
 
 
diff --git a/run.py.in b/run.py.in
index 090472843..ceca55db0 100755
--- a/run.py.in
+++ b/run.py.in
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ run.py --sh                                # Print a shell script to set the run
 
 
 extra_paths = [
+    "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python/src",
     "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python",
-    "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python",
     "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests"
 ]
 
diff --git a/tests/python-checker.sh.in b/tests/python-checker.sh.in
index 11f9209fc..053794fdc 100644
--- a/tests/python-checker.sh.in
+++ b/tests/python-checker.sh.in
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@
 
 set -exo pipefail
 echo ----Starting flake8 checks----
-flake8 --verbose --count --show-source ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router_internal ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/docs ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python/skupper_router_site.py  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skstat ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skmanage
+flake8 --verbose --count --show-source ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router_internal ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/docs ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python/_skupper_router_site.py  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skstat ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skmanage
 echo ----Starting pylint checks----
-pylint --jobs 4 --rcfile ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/tests/pylintrc --ignore friendship_server.py,friendship_pb2.py,friendship_pb2_grpc.py ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router_internal ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/docs ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python/skupper_router_site.py  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skstat ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skmanage
+pylint --jobs 4 --rcfile ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/tests/pylintrc --ignore friendship_server.py,friendship_pb2.py,friendship_pb2_grpc.py ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router_internal ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/docs ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python/_skupper_router_site.py  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skstat ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/skmanage
 echo ----Starting mypy checks----
-#mypy --verbose --config-file ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/tests/mypy.ini ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router_internal ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/docs ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python/skupper_router_site.py
+#mypy --verbose --config-file ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/tests/mypy.ini ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/python/skupper_router_internal ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/docs ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/python/_skupper_router_site.py
 
diff --git a/tests/system_tests_http.py b/tests/system_tests_http.py
index 9bd6c8ea0..360a28f6f 100644
--- a/tests/system_tests_http.py
+++ b/tests/system_tests_http.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 from urllib.request import urlopen, build_opener, HTTPSHandler
 from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError
 
-import skupper_router_site
+from skupper_router._skupper_router_site import SKIP_DELETE_HTTP_LISTENER
 from system_test import Process, QdManager, retry
 from system_test import TestCase, Qdrouterd, main_module, DIR
 from system_test import unittest, AMQP_LISTENER_TYPE, ALLOCATOR_TYPE
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def ssl_file(name):
     def setUpClass(cls):
         super(RouterTestHttp, cls).setUpClass()
         # DISPATCH-1513, DISPATCH-2299: Http listener delete was broken in LWS v4 until v4.2.0
-        cls.skip_delete_http_listener_test = skupper_router_site.SKIP_DELETE_HTTP_LISTENER
+        cls.skip_delete_http_listener_test = SKIP_DELETE_HTTP_LISTENER
 
     @classmethod
     def get(cls, url, use_ca=True):
diff --git a/tools/skmanage b/tools/skmanage
index 045490d57..aecd67f0b 100755
--- a/tools/skmanage
+++ b/tools/skmanage
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ import json
 import re
 from collections.abc import Mapping, Sequence
 
-import skupper_router_site
-skupper_router_site.populate_pythonpath()
+from skupper_router._skupper_router_site import populate_pythonpath
+populate_pythonpath()
 
 from skupper_router.management.client import Node
 from skupper_router_internal.tools.command import (UsageError, _skmanage_parser, check_args,
diff --git a/tools/skstat b/tools/skstat
index 1e02d9ff5..d559fc64d 100755
--- a/tools/skstat
+++ b/tools/skstat
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ import sys
 from datetime import datetime
 from time import ctime, strftime, gmtime
 
-import skupper_router_site
-skupper_router_site.populate_pythonpath()
+from skupper_router._skupper_router_site import populate_pythonpath
+populate_pythonpath()
 
 from skupper_router.management.client import Node
 from skupper_router_internal.management.qdrouter import QdSchema