diff --git a/awx_collection/plugins/module_utils/tower_api.py b/awx_collection/plugins/module_utils/tower_api.py
index de81b6a662..02122b6c25 100644
--- a/awx_collection/plugins/module_utils/tower_api.py
+++ b/awx_collection/plugins/module_utils/tower_api.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from ansible.module_utils.urls import Request, SSLValidationError, ConnectionErr
 from ansible.module_utils.six import PY2
 from ansible.module_utils.six.moves.urllib.error import HTTPError
 from ansible.module_utils.six.moves.http_cookiejar import CookieJar
-import semver
+from distutils.version import LooseVersion as Version
 import time
 from json import loads, dumps
 
@@ -260,17 +260,13 @@ class TowerAPIModule(TowerModule):
                 tower_type = response.info().getheader('X-API-Product-Name', None)
                 tower_version = response.info().getheader('X-API-Product-Version', None)
 
-            semver_collection_version = semver.VersionInfo.parse(self._COLLECTION_VERSION)
-            semver_tower_version = semver.VersionInfo.parse(tower_version)
+            collection_major = Version(self._COLLECTION_VERSION).version[0]
+            tower_major = Version(tower_version).version[0]
 
             if self._COLLECTION_TYPE not in self.collection_to_version or self.collection_to_version[self._COLLECTION_TYPE] != tower_type:
-                self.warn("You are using the {0} version of this collection but connecting to {1}".format(
-                    self._COLLECTION_TYPE, tower_type
-                ))
-            elif semver_collection_version.major != semver_tower_version.major:
-                self.warn("You are running collection version {0} but connecting to tower version {1}".format(
-                    self._COLLECTION_VERSION, tower_version
-                ))
+                self.warn("You are using the {0} version of this collection but connecting to {1}".format(self._COLLECTION_TYPE, tower_type))
+            elif collection_major != tower_major:
+                self.warn("You are running collection version {0} but connecting to tower version {1}".format(self._COLLECTION_VERSION, tower_version))
             self.version_checked = True
 
         response_body = ''
diff --git a/awx_collection/test/awx/test_module_utils.py b/awx_collection/test/awx/test_module_utils.py
index 473bfe9457..61a3b6d4bd 100644
--- a/awx_collection/test/awx/test_module_utils.py
+++ b/awx_collection/test/awx/test_module_utils.py
@@ -32,6 +32,20 @@ def mock_ping_response(self, method, url, **kwargs):
 
 
 def test_version_warning(collection_import, silence_warning):
+    TowerAPIModule = collection_import('plugins.module_utils.tower_api').TowerAPIModule
+    cli_data = {'ANSIBLE_MODULE_ARGS': {}}
+    testargs = ['module_file2.py', json.dumps(cli_data)]
+    with mock.patch.object(sys, 'argv', testargs):
+        with mock.patch('ansible.module_utils.urls.Request.open', new=mock_ping_response):
+            my_module = TowerAPIModule(argument_spec=dict())
+            my_module._COLLECTION_VERSION = "2.0.0"
+            my_module._COLLECTION_TYPE = "not-junk"
+            my_module.collection_to_version['not-junk'] = 'not-junk'
+            my_module.get_endpoint('ping')
+    silence_warning.assert_called_once_with('You are running collection version 2.0.0 but connecting to tower version 1.2.3')
+
+
+def test_version_warning_strictness(collection_import, silence_warning):
     TowerAPIModule = collection_import('plugins.module_utils.tower_api').TowerAPIModule
     cli_data = {'ANSIBLE_MODULE_ARGS': {}}
     testargs = ['module_file2.py', json.dumps(cli_data)]
@@ -42,7 +56,7 @@ def test_version_warning(collection_import, silence_warning):
             my_module._COLLECTION_TYPE = "not-junk"
             my_module.collection_to_version['not-junk'] = 'not-junk'
             my_module.get_endpoint('ping')
-    silence_warning.assert_called_once_with('You are running collection version 1.0.0 but connecting to tower version 1.2.3')
+    silence_warning.assert_not_called()
 
 
 def test_type_warning(collection_import, silence_warning):
diff --git a/requirements/requirements.in b/requirements/requirements.in
index 4f22262c86..1970b215fb 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements/requirements.in
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ python3-saml
 python-ldap>=3.3.1 # https://github.com/python-ldap/python-ldap/issues/270
 pyyaml>=5.4.1  # minimum to fix https://github.com/yaml/pyyaml/issues/478
 schedule==0.6.0
-semver==2.13.0
 social-auth-core==3.3.1  # see UPGRADE BLOCKERs
 social-auth-app-django==3.1.0  # see UPGRADE BLOCKERs
 redis