diff --git a/distributed/node.py b/distributed/node.py
index 9917c434f7c..477311eafce 100644
--- a/distributed/node.py
+++ b/distributed/node.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class ServerNode(Server):
     # XXX avoid inheriting from Server? there is some large potential for confusion
     # between base and derived attribute namespaces...
 
-    def versions(self, packages=None):
+    def versions(self, packages=()):
         return get_versions(packages=packages)
 
     def start_services(self, default_listen_ip):
diff --git a/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py b/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py
index b908236c4ab..dd4ebc0fb50 100644
--- a/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py
+++ b/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py
@@ -516,10 +516,9 @@ async def test_environ_plugin(c, s, a, b):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "modname",
     [
-        # numpy is always imported, and for a good reason:
-        # https://github.com/dask/distributed/issues/5729
+        pytest.param("numpy", marks=pytest.mark.xfail(reason="distributed#5729")),
         "scipy",
-        pytest.param("pandas", marks=pytest.mark.xfail(reason="distributed#5723")),
+        "pandas",
     ],
 )
 @gen_cluster(client=True, Worker=Nanny, nthreads=[("", 1)])
diff --git a/distributed/tests/test_versions.py b/distributed/tests/test_versions.py
index a24151dcf6e..15ec95dfcf7 100644
--- a/distributed/tests/test_versions.py
+++ b/distributed/tests/test_versions.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import re
 import sys
 
+import msgpack
 import pytest
 import tornado
 
@@ -147,17 +148,15 @@ def test_python_version():
 def test_version_custom_pkgs():
     out = get_versions(
         [
-            # Use custom function
-            ("distributed", lambda mod: "123"),
-            # Use version_of_package
             "notexist",
-            ("pytest", None),  # has __version__
-            "tornado",  # has version
-            "math",  # has nothing
+            "pytest",
+            "tornado",
+            "msgpack",
+            "math",
         ]
     )["packages"]
-    assert out["distributed"] == "123"
     assert out["notexist"] is None
     assert out["pytest"] == pytest.__version__
     assert out["tornado"] == tornado.version
+    assert out["msgpack"] == ".".join(str(v) for v in msgpack.version)
     assert out["math"] is None
diff --git a/distributed/versions.py b/distributed/versions.py
index 1994cd2e7f5..98b3019946f 100644
--- a/distributed/versions.py
+++ b/distributed/versions.py
@@ -2,34 +2,33 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import importlib
+import importlib.metadata
 import os
 import platform
 import struct
 import sys
-from collections.abc import Callable, Iterable
+from collections.abc import Iterable
 from itertools import chain
-from types import ModuleType
 from typing import Any
 
 required_packages = [
-    ("dask", lambda p: p.__version__),
-    ("distributed", lambda p: p.__version__),
-    ("msgpack", lambda p: ".".join([str(v) for v in p.version])),
-    ("cloudpickle", lambda p: p.__version__),
-    ("tornado", lambda p: p.version),
-    ("toolz", lambda p: p.__version__),
+    "dask",
+    "distributed",
+    "msgpack",
+    "cloudpickle",
+    "tornado",
+    "toolz",
 ]
 
 optional_packages = [
-    ("numpy", lambda p: p.__version__),
-    ("pandas", lambda p: p.__version__),
-    ("lz4", lambda p: p.__version__),
+    "numpy",
+    "pandas",
+    "lz4",
 ]
 
 
 # only these scheduler packages will be checked for version mismatch
-scheduler_relevant_packages = {pkg for pkg, _ in required_packages} | {"lz4"}
+scheduler_relevant_packages = set(required_packages) | {"lz4"}
 
 
 # notes to be displayed for mismatch packages
@@ -38,18 +37,16 @@
 }
 
 
-def get_versions(
-    packages: Iterable[str | tuple[str, Callable[[ModuleType], str | None]]]
-    | None = None
-) -> dict[str, dict[str, Any]]:
+def get_versions(packages: Iterable[str] = ()) -> dict[str, dict[str, Any]]:
     """Return basic information on our software installation, and our installed versions
     of packages
     """
     return {
         "host": get_system_info(),
-        "packages": get_package_info(
-            chain(required_packages, optional_packages, packages or [])
-        ),
+        "packages": {
+            "python": ".".join(map(str, sys.version_info)),
+            **get_package_info(chain(required_packages, optional_packages, packages)),
+        },
     }
 
 
@@ -68,37 +65,13 @@ def get_system_info() -> dict[str, Any]:
     }
 
 
-def version_of_package(pkg: ModuleType) -> str | None:
-    """Try a variety of common ways to get the version of a package"""
-    from contextlib import suppress
-
-    with suppress(AttributeError):
-        return pkg.__version__
-    with suppress(AttributeError):
-        return str(pkg.version)
-    with suppress(AttributeError):
-        return ".".join(map(str, pkg.version_info))
-    return None
-
-
-def get_package_info(
-    pkgs: Iterable[str | tuple[str, Callable[[ModuleType], str | None] | None]]
-) -> dict[str, str | None]:
+def get_package_info(pkgs: Iterable[str]) -> dict[str, str | None]:
     """get package versions for the passed required & optional packages"""
 
-    pversions: dict[str, str | None] = {"python": ".".join(map(str, sys.version_info))}
-    for pkg in pkgs:
-        if isinstance(pkg, (tuple, list)):
-            modname, ver_f = pkg
-            if ver_f is None:
-                ver_f = version_of_package
-        else:
-            modname = pkg
-            ver_f = version_of_package
-
+    pversions: dict[str, str | None] = {}
+    for modname in pkgs:
         try:
-            mod = importlib.import_module(modname)
-            pversions[modname] = ver_f(mod)
+            pversions[modname] = importlib.metadata.version(modname)
         except Exception:
             pversions[modname] = None