diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/openstack.py b/plugins/module_utils/openstack.py
index 8ea81a8d..2632e082 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/openstack.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/openstack.py
@@ -29,7 +29,16 @@
 
 import abc
 import copy
-from distutils.version import StrictVersion
+from ansible.module_utils.six import raise_from
+try:
+    from ansible.module_utils.compat.version import StrictVersion
+except ImportError:
+    try:
+        from distutils.version import StrictVersion
+    except ImportError as exc:
+        raise_from(ImportError('To use this plugin or module with ansible-core'
+                               ' < 2.11, you need to use Python < 3.12 with '
+                               'distutils.version present'), exc)
 import importlib
 import os
 
diff --git a/scripts/inventory/openstack_inventory.py b/scripts/inventory/openstack_inventory.py
index ab2d96cb..f0b2ff89 100644
--- a/scripts/inventory/openstack_inventory.py
+++ b/scripts/inventory/openstack_inventory.py
@@ -56,7 +56,16 @@ import collections
 import os
 import sys
 import time
-from distutils.version import StrictVersion
+from ansible.module_utils.six import raise_from
+try:
+    from ansible.module_utils.compat.version import StrictVersion
+except ImportError:
+    try:
+        from distutils.version import StrictVersion
+    except ImportError as exc:
+        raise_from(ImportError('To use this plugin or module with ansible-core'
+                               ' < 2.11, you need to use Python < 3.12 with '
+                               'distutils.version present'), exc)
 from io import StringIO
 
 import json