diff --git a/sage/env.py b/sage/env.py
index c4953cfa65..178e678f65 100644
--- a/sage/env.py
+++ b/sage/env.py
@@ -372,12 +372,12 @@ def sage_include_directories(use_sources=False):
         sage: any(os.path.isfile(os.path.join(d, file)) for d in dirs)
         True
     """
-    import distutils.sysconfig
+    import sysconfig
 
     TOP = SAGE_SRC if use_sources else SAGE_LIB
 
     dirs = [TOP,
-            distutils.sysconfig.get_python_inc()]
+            sysconfig.get_config_var('INCLUDEPY')]
     try:
         import numpy
         dirs.append(numpy.get_include())