diff --git a/sentry_sdk/utils.py b/sentry_sdk/utils.py
index b9be3d8936..d70a18eb9c 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/utils.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/utils.py
@@ -1837,6 +1837,16 @@ def _get_installed_modules() -> "Dict[str, str]":
 
 
 def package_version(package: str) -> "Optional[Tuple[int, ...]]":
+    try:
+        from importlib import metadata
+
+        metadata_version = metadata.version(package)
+        if metadata_version is not None:
+            return parse_version(metadata_version)
+    except Exception:
+        # < py3.8, or missing or broken metadata for this package
+        pass
+
     normalized_package = _normalize_module_name(
         _replace_hyphens_dots_and_underscores_with_dashes(package)
     )
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 77def0eb6e..03c4373c24 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -1412,6 +1412,15 @@ def test_package_version_is_none():
     assert package_version("non_existent_package") is None
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(sys.version_info < (3, 8), reason="requires importlib.metadata")
+def test_package_version_does_not_scan_installed_packages():
+    with mock.patch("sentry_sdk.utils._generate_installed_modules") as generate:
+        with mock.patch("sentry_sdk.utils._installed_modules", None):
+            assert package_version("pytest") is not None
+
+    generate.assert_not_called()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "kwargs, expected",
     [