diff --git a/shellfoundry/utilities/__init__.py b/shellfoundry/utilities/__init__.py
index 8e8593b..1306079 100644
--- a/shellfoundry/utilities/__init__.py
+++ b/shellfoundry/utilities/__init__.py
@@ -2,16 +2,9 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 import json
-import ssl
 
 import pkg_resources
-
-try:
-    # Python 2.x version
-    from xmlrpclib import ProtocolError, ServerProxy
-except ImportError:
-    # Python 3.x version
-    from xmlrpc.client import ProtocolError, ServerProxy
+import requests
 
 try:
     from urllib import urlopen
@@ -43,9 +36,6 @@ def __init__(self, url):
         self.url = url
 
 
-PyPI = Index("https://pypi.python.org/pypi/")
-
-
 def get_installed_version(package_name):
     return pkg_resources.get_distribution(package_name).version
 
@@ -74,20 +64,20 @@ def is_index_version_greater_than_current():
 
 def max_version_from_index():
     try:
-        ctx = ssl.SSLContext(protocol=ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv23)
-        proxy = ServerProxy(PyPI.url, context=ctx)
-        releases = proxy.package_releases(PACKAGE_NAME)
-        max_version = max(releases)
-        return max_version
-    except ProtocolError as err:
-        raise ShellFoundryVersionException(
-            "Cannot retrieve latest shellfoundry version, "
-            "are you offline? Error: {}".format(err)
-        )
+        url = "https://pypi.org/pypi/{}/json".format(PACKAGE_NAME)
+        r = requests.get(url)
+        if r.status_code != requests.codes.ok:
+            raise ShellFoundryVersionException(
+                "Cannot retrieve latest shellfoundry version, " "are you offline?"
+            )
+        else:
+            content = json.loads(r.content)
+            max_version = content["info"]["version"]
+            return max_version
     except Exception as err:
         raise ShellFoundryVersionException(
-            "Unexpected error during shellfoundry version check. "
-            "Error: {}.".format(err)
+            "Cannot retrieve latest shellfoundry version, "
+            "are you offline? Error: {}".format(err.message)
         )
 
 
diff --git a/shellfoundry/utilities/template_retriever.py b/shellfoundry/utilities/template_retriever.py
index b99f6cd..8932e07 100644
--- a/shellfoundry/utilities/template_retriever.py
+++ b/shellfoundry/utilities/template_retriever.py
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@
 import requests
 import yaml
 from pkg_resources import parse_version
-from pkg_resources._vendor.packaging.version import Version
+
+try:
+    from pkg_resources._vendor.packaging.version import Version
+except ImportError:
+    from packaging.version import Version
 
 from .filters import CompositeFilter
 
diff --git a/tests/test_utilities/test_versions.py b/tests/test_utilities/test_versions.py
index c9dac8a..091cd5e 100644
--- a/tests/test_utilities/test_versions.py
+++ b/tests/test_utilities/test_versions.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python
 import unittest
-from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
 
 from shellfoundry.utilities import is_index_version_greater_than_current
 
@@ -10,18 +10,18 @@
 class TestVersionsHelpers(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_current_version_greater_than_index(self):
         # Arrange
-        releases = {
-            "0.2.7": "data",
-            "0.2.8": "some other data",
-            "1.0.0": "amazing data",
-        }
-
-        server_proxy = MagicMock(package_releases=MagicMock(return_value=releases))
+        return_json = """{
+                                "info":{
+                                "version":"1.0.0"
+                                }}"""
+        get_response = Mock()
+        get_response.status_code = 200
+        get_response.content = return_json
 
         # Act
         with patch(
             "shellfoundry.utilities.get_installed_version", return_value="1.0.0"
-        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.ServerProxy", return_value=server_proxy):
+        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.requests.get", return_value=get_response):
             (
                 is_greater_version,
                 is_major_release,
@@ -33,14 +33,18 @@ def test_current_version_greater_than_index(self):
 
     def test_current_version_lower_than_index_by_a_patch(self):
         # Arrange
-        releases = {"0.2.7": "data", "0.2.8": "some other data"}
-
-        server_proxy = MagicMock(package_releases=MagicMock(return_value=releases))
+        return_json = """{
+                "info":{
+                "version":"0.2.8"
+                }}"""
+        get_response = Mock()
+        get_response.status_code = 200
+        get_response.content = return_json
 
         # Act
         with patch(
             "shellfoundry.utilities.get_installed_version", return_value="0.2.7"
-        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.ServerProxy", return_value=server_proxy):
+        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.requests.get", return_value=get_response):
             (
                 is_greater_version,
                 is_major_release,
@@ -52,18 +56,18 @@ def test_current_version_lower_than_index_by_a_patch(self):
 
     def test_current_version_lower_than_index_by_a_major(self):
         # Arrange
-        releases = {
-            "0.2.7": "data",
-            "0.2.8": "some other data",
-            "1.0.0": "amazing data",
-        }
-
-        server_proxy = MagicMock(package_releases=MagicMock(return_value=releases))
+        return_json = """{
+                        "info":{
+                        "version":"1.0.0"
+                        }}"""
+        get_response = Mock()
+        get_response.status_code = 200
+        get_response.content = return_json
 
         # Act
         with patch(
             "shellfoundry.utilities.get_installed_version", return_value="0.2.7"
-        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.ServerProxy", return_value=server_proxy):
+        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.requests.get", return_value=get_response):
             (
                 is_greater_version,
                 is_major_release,
@@ -75,14 +79,18 @@ def test_current_version_lower_than_index_by_a_major(self):
 
     def test_current_version_is_equal_to_index_version(self):
         # Arrange
-        releases = {"0.2.7": "data"}
-
-        server_proxy = MagicMock(package_releases=MagicMock(return_value=releases))
+        return_json = """{
+                        "info":{
+                        "version":"0.2.7"
+                        }}"""
+        get_response = Mock()
+        get_response.status_code = 200
+        get_response.content = return_json
 
         # Act
         with patch(
             "shellfoundry.utilities.get_installed_version", return_value="0.2.7"
-        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.ServerProxy", return_value=server_proxy):
+        ), patch("shellfoundry.utilities.requests.get", return_value=get_response):
             (
                 is_greater_version,
                 is_major_release,
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
index 8060c02..cba64f4 100644
--- a/version.txt
+++ b/version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.2.25
+1.2.26