diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 7c85de3..d08ce7c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
+        python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
         os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
 
     env:
@@ -46,5 +46,6 @@ jobs:
       if: steps.release.outputs.version == 0
       run: |
         python -m pip install -U pip setuptools wheel
-        python -m pip install -e .[test]
-        python -m unittest -v tests.suite
+        python -m pip install .[test]
+        cd tests
+        python -m unittest -v
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb88f12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+[build-system]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+requires = ["setuptools", "cython"]
+
+[project]
+name = "httptools"
+dynamic = ["version", "optional-dependencies"]
+classifiers = [
+    "Intended Audience :: Developers",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+    "Operating System :: POSIX",
+    "Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS X",
+    "Environment :: Web Environment",
+    "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
+]
+requires-python = ">=3.8"
+authors = [
+    {name = "Yury Selivanov", email="yury@magic.io"},
+]
+license = "MIT"
+license-files = ["LICENSE"]
+description = "A collection of framework independent HTTP protocol utils."
+readme = "README.md"
+
+[project.urls]
+Homepage = "https://github.com/MagicStack/httptools"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index adca1f8..7f5a923 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import sys
 
+from Cython.Build import cythonize
+
 vi = sys.version_info
 if vi < (3, 8):
     raise RuntimeError('httptools require Python 3.8 or greater')
@@ -15,17 +17,11 @@
 
 ROOT = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent
 
-CYTHON_DEPENDENCY = 'Cython>=0.29.24'
+CYTHON_DEPENDENCY = 'Cython>=3.1.0'
 
 
 class httptools_build_ext(build_ext):
     user_options = build_ext.user_options + [
-        ('cython-always', None,
-            'run cythonize() even if .c files are present'),
-        ('cython-annotate', None,
-            'Produce a colorized HTML version of the Cython source.'),
-        ('cython-directives=', None,
-            'Cythion compiler directives'),
         ('use-system-llhttp', None,
             'Use the system provided llhttp, instead of the bundled one'),
         ('use-system-http-parser', None,
@@ -33,8 +29,6 @@ class httptools_build_ext(build_ext):
     ]
 
     boolean_options = build_ext.boolean_options + [
-        'cython-always',
-        'cython-annotate',
         'use-system-llhttp',
         'use-system-http-parser',
     ]
@@ -49,9 +43,6 @@ def initialize_options(self):
         super().initialize_options()
         self.use_system_llhttp = False
         self.use_system_http_parser = False
-        self.cython_always = False
-        self.cython_annotate = None
-        self.cython_directives = None
 
     def finalize_options(self):
         # finalize_options() may be called multiple times on the
@@ -60,53 +51,6 @@ def finalize_options(self):
         if getattr(self, '_initialized', False):
             return
 
-        need_cythonize = self.cython_always
-        cfiles = {}
-
-        for extension in self.distribution.ext_modules:
-            for i, sfile in enumerate(extension.sources):
-                if sfile.endswith('.pyx'):
-                    prefix, ext = os.path.splitext(sfile)
-                    cfile = prefix + '.c'
-
-                    if os.path.exists(cfile) and not self.cython_always:
-                        extension.sources[i] = cfile
-                    else:
-                        if os.path.exists(cfile):
-                            cfiles[cfile] = os.path.getmtime(cfile)
-                        else:
-                            cfiles[cfile] = 0
-                        need_cythonize = True
-
-        if need_cythonize:
-            try:
-                import Cython
-            except ImportError:
-                raise RuntimeError(
-                    'please install Cython to compile httptools from source')
-
-            if Cython.__version__ < '0.29':
-                raise RuntimeError(
-                    'httptools requires Cython version 0.29 or greater')
-
-            from Cython.Build import cythonize
-
-            directives = {}
-            if self.cython_directives:
-                for directive in self.cython_directives.split(','):
-                    k, _, v = directive.partition('=')
-                    if v.lower() == 'false':
-                        v = False
-                    if v.lower() == 'true':
-                        v = True
-
-                    directives[k] = v
-
-            self.distribution.ext_modules[:] = cythonize(
-                self.distribution.ext_modules,
-                compiler_directives=directives,
-                annotate=self.cython_annotate)
-
         super().finalize_options()
 
         self._initialized = True
@@ -145,10 +89,6 @@ def build_extensions(self):
         super().build_extensions()
 
 
-with open(str(ROOT / 'README.md')) as f:
-    long_description = f.read()
-
-
 with open(str(ROOT / 'httptools' / '_version.py')) as f:
     for line in f:
         if line.startswith('__version__ ='):
@@ -169,32 +109,14 @@ def build_extensions(self):
 
 
 setup(
-    name='httptools',
     version=VERSION,
-    description='A collection of framework independent HTTP protocol utils.',
-    long_description=long_description,
-    long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
-    url='https://github.com/MagicStack/httptools',
-    classifiers=[
-        'License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License',
-        'Intended Audience :: Developers',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
-        'Operating System :: POSIX',
-        'Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS X',
-        'Environment :: Web Environment',
-        'Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable',
-    ],
     platforms=['macOS', 'POSIX', 'Windows'],
-    python_requires='>=3.8.0',
     zip_safe=False,
-    author='Yury Selivanov',
-    author_email='yury@magic.io',
-    license='MIT',
     packages=['httptools', 'httptools.parser'],
     cmdclass={
         'build_ext': httptools_build_ext,
     },
-    ext_modules=[
+    ext_modules=cythonize([
         Extension(
             "httptools.parser.parser",
             sources=[
@@ -209,7 +131,7 @@ def build_extensions(self):
             ],
             extra_compile_args=CFLAGS,
         ),
-    ],
+    ]),
     include_package_data=True,
     exclude_package_data={"": ["*.c", "*.h"]},
     test_suite='tests.suite',