diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8f2c294d5..432dce677 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ HOSTCFLAGS		+= $(WARNINGS) $(DEFINES) -iquote include/
 export AFLAGS CFLAGS USERCLFAGS HOSTCFLAGS
 
 # Default target
-all: flog criu lib
+all: flog criu lib crit
 .PHONY: all
 
 #
@@ -298,9 +298,9 @@ clean mrproper:
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=criu $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=soccr $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib $@
+	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=crit $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=compel $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=compel/plugins $@
-	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib $@
 .PHONY: clean mrproper
 
 clean-amdgpu_plugin:
@@ -347,6 +347,10 @@ amdgpu_plugin: criu
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) -C plugins/amdgpu all
 .PHONY: amdgpu_plugin
 
+crit: lib
+	$(Q) $(MAKE) -C crit
+.PHONY: crit
+
 #
 # Generating tar requires tag matched CRIU_VERSION.
 # If not found then simply use GIT's describe with
@@ -412,6 +416,7 @@ help:
 	@echo '    Targets:'
 	@echo '      all             - Build all [*] targets'
 	@echo '    * criu            - Build criu'
+	@echo '    * crit            - Build crit'
 	@echo '      zdtm            - Build zdtm test-suite'
 	@echo '      docs            - Build documentation'
 	@echo '      install         - Install CRIU (see INSTALL.md)'
@@ -435,11 +440,12 @@ lint:
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg test/zdtm.py
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg test/inhfd/*.py
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg test/others/rpc/config_file.py
-	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg lib/py/images/pb2dict.py
-	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg lib/py/images/images.py
+	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg lib/pycriu/images/pb2dict.py
+	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg lib/pycriu/images/images.py
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg scripts/criu-ns
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg test/others/criu-ns/run.py
-	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg crit/setup.py
+	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg crit/*.py
+	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg crit/crit/*.py
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg scripts/uninstall_module.py
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg coredump/ coredump/coredump
 	flake8 --config=scripts/flake8.cfg scripts/github-indent-warnings.py
diff --git a/Makefile.install b/Makefile.install
index c798637be..6f5b31924 100644
--- a/Makefile.install
+++ b/Makefile.install
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ install-lib: lib
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib install
 .PHONY: install-lib
 
+install-crit: lib
+	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=crit install
+.PHONY: install-crit
+
 install-criu: criu
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=criu install
 .PHONY: install-criu
@@ -50,12 +54,13 @@ install-compel: $(compel-install-targets)
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=compel/plugins install
 .PHONY: install-compel
 
-install: install-man install-lib install-criu install-compel install-amdgpu_plugin ;
+install: install-man install-lib install-crit install-criu install-compel install-amdgpu_plugin ;
 .PHONY: install
 
 uninstall:
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) -C Documentation $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib $@
+	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=crit $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=criu $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=compel $@
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=compel/plugins $@
diff --git a/coredump/pycriu b/coredump/pycriu
index d13a8790a..d1b6ed5c4 120000
--- a/coredump/pycriu
+++ b/coredump/pycriu
@@ -1 +1 @@
-../lib/py/
\ No newline at end of file
+../lib/pycriu
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crit/.gitignore b/crit/.gitignore
index 810661179..10c8ab186 100644
--- a/crit/.gitignore
+++ b/crit/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 crit.egg-info/
 build/
+dist/
+version.py
diff --git a/crit/Makefile b/crit/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a856db6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crit/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+PYTHON_EXTERNALLY_MANAGED := $(shell $(PYTHON) -c 'import os, sysconfig; print(int(os.path.isfile(os.path.join(sysconfig.get_path("stdlib"), "EXTERNALLY-MANAGED"))))')
+PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES := 0
+
+VERSION_FILE := $(if $(obj),$(addprefix $(obj)/,crit/version.py),crit/version.py)
+
+all-y	+= ${VERSION_FILE}
+cleanup-y	+= ${VERSION_FILE}
+
+${VERSION_FILE}:
+	$(Q) echo "__version__ = '${CRIU_VERSION}'" > $@
+
+install: ${VERSION_FILE}
+ifeq ($(PYTHON_EXTERNALLY_MANAGED),1)
+ifeq ($(PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES),0)
+	$(E) "  SKIP INSTALL crit: Externally managed python environment (See PEP 668 for more information)"
+	$(E) "  Consider using PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES=1 make install"
+else
+	$(E) "  INSTALL " crit
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install --upgrade --ignore-installed --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) ./crit
+endif
+else
+	$(E) "  INSTALL " crit
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install --upgrade --ignore-installed --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) ./crit
+endif
+.PHONY: install
+
+uninstall:
+ifeq ($(PYTHON_EXTERNALLY_MANAGED),1)
+ifeq ($(PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES),0)
+	$(E) " SKIP UNINSTALL crit: Externally managed python environment (See PEP 668 for more information)"
+	$(E) " Consider using PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES=1 make uninstall"
+else
+	$(E) " UNINSTALL" crit
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) ./scripts/uninstall_module.py --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) crit
+endif
+else
+	$(E) " UNINSTALL" crit
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) ./scripts/uninstall_module.py --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) crit
+endif
+.PHONY: uninstall
diff --git a/crit/crit/__init__.py b/crit/crit/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..58f3ace6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crit/crit/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from .version import __version__
diff --git a/lib/py/cli.py b/crit/crit/__main__.py
similarity index 95%
rename from lib/py/cli.py
rename to crit/crit/__main__.py
index a3a0870f8..e15327f50 100755
--- a/lib/py/cli.py
+++ b/crit/crit/__main__.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import json
 import os
 
 import pycriu
+from . import __version__
 
 
 def inf(opts):
@@ -41,9 +42,9 @@ def decode(opts):
     try:
         img = pycriu.images.load(inf(opts), opts['pretty'], opts['nopl'])
     except pycriu.images.MagicException as exc:
-        print("Unknown magic %#x.\n"\
-          "Maybe you are feeding me an image with "\
-          "raw data(i.e. pages.img)?" % exc.magic, file=sys.stderr)
+        print("Unknown magic %#x.\n"
+              "Maybe you are feeding me an image with "
+              "raw data(i.e. pages.img)?" % exc.magic, file=sys.stderr)
         sys.exit(1)
 
     if opts['pretty']:
@@ -59,9 +60,9 @@ def encode(opts):
     try:
         img = json.load(inf(opts))
     except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        print("Cannot read JSON.\n"\
-          "Maybe you are feeding me an image with protobuf data? "\
-          "Encode expects JSON input.", file=sys.stderr)
+        print("Cannot read JSON.\n"
+              "Maybe you are feeding me an image with protobuf data? "
+              "Encode expects JSON input.", file=sys.stderr)
         sys.exit(1)
     pycriu.images.dump(img, outf(opts, False))
 
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ def ftype_find_in_files(opts, ft, fid):
     if files_img is None:
         try:
             files_img = pycriu.images.load(dinf(opts, "files.img"))['entries']
-        except:
+        except Exception:
             files_img = []
 
     if len(files_img) == 0:
@@ -364,7 +365,7 @@ def main():
     desc = 'CRiu Image Tool'
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         description=desc, formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter)
-    parser.add_argument('--version', action='version', version=pycriu.__version__)
+    parser.add_argument('--version', action='version', version=__version__)
 
     subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(
         help='Use crit CMD --help for command-specific help')
@@ -374,8 +375,7 @@ def main():
         'decode', help='convert criu image from binary type to json')
     decode_parser.add_argument(
         '--pretty',
-        help=
-        'Multiline with indents and some numerical fields in field-specific format',
+        help='Multiline with indents and some numerical fields in field-specific format',
         action='store_true')
     decode_parser.add_argument(
         '-i',
diff --git a/crit/pycriu b/crit/pycriu
deleted file mode 120000
index d13a8790a..000000000
--- a/crit/pycriu
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../lib/py/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crit/pyproject.toml b/crit/pyproject.toml
index 019b0d848..9089f0a39 100644
--- a/crit/pyproject.toml
+++ b/crit/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,22 @@
 [build-system]
-# Minimum requirements for the build system to execute.
-requires = ["setuptools", "wheel"]  # PEP 508 specifications.
+requires = ["setuptools"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "crit"
+description = "CRiu Image Tool"
+authors = [
+    {name = "CRIU team", email = "criu@openvz.org"},
+]
+license = {text = "GPLv2"}
+dynamic = ["version"]
+requires-python = ">=3.6"
+
+[project.scripts]
+crit = "crit.__main__:main"
+
+[tool.setuptools]
+packages = ["crit"]
+
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {attr = "crit.__version__"}
diff --git a/crit/requirements.txt b/crit/requirements.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index c27e6d4f0..000000000
--- a/crit/requirements.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-# We need pip version 20.1 or newer to correctly build with 'pycriu' symlink.
-# - Building of local directories with pip 20.1 or newer is done in place,
-#   instead of a temporary location containing a copy of the directory tree.
-#   (https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/7555)
-pip>=20.1
-setuptools>=42.0.0
-wheel
diff --git a/crit/setup.cfg b/crit/setup.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fbc9a5143
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crit/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Configuring setuptools using pyproject.toml files was introduced in setuptools 61.0.0
+# https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/history.html#v61-0-0
+# For older versions of setuptools, we need to use the setup.cfg file
+# https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/declarative_config.html#declarative-config
+
+[metadata]
+name = crit
+description = CRiu Image Tool
+author = CRIU team
+author_email = criu@openvz.org
+license = GPLv2
+version = attr: crit.__version__
+
+[options]
+packages = crit
+python_requires = >=3.6
+
+[options.entry_points]
+console_scripts =
+    crit = crit.__main__:main
diff --git a/crit/setup.py b/crit/setup.py
index 2f584678f..618ac1de4 100644
--- a/crit/setup.py
+++ b/crit/setup.py
@@ -1,15 +1,6 @@
-from setuptools import setup, find_packages
-import pycriu
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import setuptools
 
-setup(
-    name='crit',
-    version=pycriu.__version__,
-    description='CRiu Image Tool',
-    author='CRIU team',
-    author_email='criu@openvz.org',
-    license='GPLv2',
-    url='https://github.com/checkpoint-restore/criu',
-    packages=find_packages('.'),
-    scripts=['crit'],
-    install_requires=[],
-)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    setuptools.setup()
diff --git a/lib/.gitignore b/lib/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a10181b80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pycriu.egg-info/
diff --git a/lib/Makefile b/lib/Makefile
index 32d238de4..ae371e78e 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile
+++ b/lib/Makefile
@@ -28,17 +28,17 @@ lib-a: lib/c/$(CRIU_A)
 
 #
 # Python bindings.
-lib/py/Makefile: ;
-lib/py/%: .FORCE
+lib/pycriu/Makefile: ;
+lib/pycriu/%: .FORCE
 	$(call msg-gen, $@)
-	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib/py $@
+	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib/pycriu $@
 lib-py:
-	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib/py all
+	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib/pycriu all
 .PHONY: lib-py
 
 clean-lib:
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib/c clean
-	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib/py clean
+	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=lib/pycriu clean
 .PHONY: clean-lib
 clean: clean-lib
 cleanup-y	+= lib/c/$(CRIU_SO) lib/c/$(CRIU_A) lib/c/criu.pc
@@ -59,17 +59,15 @@ install: lib-c lib-a lib-py lib/c/criu.pc.in
 	$(Q) install -m 644 lib/c/criu.pc $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDIR)/pkgconfig
 ifeq ($(PYTHON_EXTERNALLY_MANAGED),1)
 ifeq ($(PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES),0)
-	$(E) "  SKIP INSTALL crit: Externally managed python environment (See PEP 668 for more information)"
+	$(E) "  SKIP INSTALL pycriu: Externally managed python environment (See PEP 668 for more information)"
 	$(E) "  Consider using PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES=1 make install"
 else
-	$(E) "  INSTALL " crit
-	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install -r ./crit/requirements.txt
-	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install --no-build-isolation --upgrade --ignore-installed --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) ./crit
+	$(E) "  INSTALL " pycriu
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install --upgrade --ignore-installed --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) ./lib
 endif
 else
-	$(E) "  INSTALL " crit
-	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install -r ./crit/requirements.txt
-	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install --no-build-isolation --upgrade --ignore-installed --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) ./crit
+	$(E) "  INSTALL " pycriu
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) -m pip install --upgrade --ignore-installed --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) ./lib
 endif
 .PHONY: install
 
@@ -84,14 +82,14 @@ uninstall:
 	$(Q) $(RM) $(addprefix $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDIR)/pkgconfig/,criu.pc)
 ifeq ($(PYTHON_EXTERNALLY_MANAGED),1)
 ifeq ($(PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES),0)
-	$(E) " SKIP UNINSTALL crit: Externally managed python environment (See PEP 668 for more information)"
+	$(E) " SKIP UNINSTALL pycriu: Externally managed python environment (See PEP 668 for more information)"
 	$(E) " Consider using PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES=1 make uninstall"
 else
-	$(E) " UNINSTALL" crit
-	$(Q) $(PYTHON) ./scripts/uninstall_module.py --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) crit
+	$(E) " UNINSTALL" pycriu
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) ./scripts/uninstall_module.py --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) pycriu
 endif
 else
-	$(E) " UNINSTALL" crit
-	$(Q) $(PYTHON) ./scripts/uninstall_module.py --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) crit
+	$(E) " UNINSTALL" pycriu
+	$(Q) $(PYTHON) ./scripts/uninstall_module.py --prefix=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX) pycriu
 endif
 .PHONY: uninstall
diff --git a/lib/py/.gitignore b/lib/pycriu/.gitignore
similarity index 68%
rename from lib/py/.gitignore
rename to lib/pycriu/.gitignore
index fba7e3864..111642787 100644
--- a/lib/py/.gitignore
+++ b/lib/pycriu/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+__pycache__
 *_pb2.py
 *.pyc
 version.py
diff --git a/lib/py/Makefile b/lib/pycriu/Makefile
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/py/Makefile
rename to lib/pycriu/Makefile
diff --git a/lib/py/__init__.py b/lib/pycriu/__init__.py
similarity index 67%
rename from lib/py/__init__.py
rename to lib/pycriu/__init__.py
index 44f66ffa4..2abcf029d 100644
--- a/lib/py/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/pycriu/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 from . import rpc_pb2 as rpc
 from . import images
 from .criu import *
-from .version import __version__
+from .version import __version__
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/py/criu.py b/lib/pycriu/criu.py
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/py/criu.py
rename to lib/pycriu/criu.py
diff --git a/lib/py/images/.gitignore b/lib/pycriu/images/.gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/py/images/.gitignore
rename to lib/pycriu/images/.gitignore
diff --git a/lib/py/images/Makefile b/lib/pycriu/images/Makefile
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/py/images/Makefile
rename to lib/pycriu/images/Makefile
diff --git a/lib/py/images/__init__.py b/lib/pycriu/images/__init__.py
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/py/images/__init__.py
rename to lib/pycriu/images/__init__.py
diff --git a/lib/py/images/images.py b/lib/pycriu/images/images.py
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/py/images/images.py
rename to lib/pycriu/images/images.py
diff --git a/lib/py/images/pb2dict.py b/lib/pycriu/images/pb2dict.py
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/py/images/pb2dict.py
rename to lib/pycriu/images/pb2dict.py
diff --git a/lib/pyproject.toml b/lib/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8eb4b7084
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools", "protobuf<4.0"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "pycriu"
+description = "Python bindings for CRIU"
+authors = [
+    {name = "CRIU team", email = "criu@openvz.org"},
+]
+license = {text = "GPLv2"}
+dynamic = ["version"]
+requires-python = ">=3.6"
+
+[tool.setuptools]
+packages = ["pycriu", "pycriu.images"]
+
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {attr = "pycriu.__version__"}
diff --git a/lib/setup.cfg b/lib/setup.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23ee48dd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Configuring setuptools using pyproject.toml files was introduced in setuptools 61.0.0
+# https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/history.html#v61-0-0
+# For older versions of setuptools, we need to use the setup.cfg file
+# https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/declarative_config.html#declarative-config
+
+[metadata]
+name = pycriu
+description = Python bindings for CRIU
+author = CRIU team
+author_email = criu@openvz.org
+license = GPLv2
+version = attr: pycriu.__version__
+
+[options]
+packages = find:
+python_requires = >=3.6
diff --git a/crit/crit b/lib/setup.py
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
similarity index 55%
rename from crit/crit
rename to lib/setup.py
index 3b15ca654..618ac1de4
--- a/crit/crit
+++ b/lib/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
+import setuptools
 
-from pycriu import cli
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-        cli.main()
+    setuptools.setup()
diff --git a/test/others/env.sh b/test/others/env.sh
index 6d830fb58..6fa2c9691 100755
--- a/test/others/env.sh
+++ b/test/others/env.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-CRIU=$(readlink -f `dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]}`/../../criu/criu)
+BASE_DIR="$(readlink -f "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../../")"
+
+CRIU="${BASE_DIR}/criu/criu"
 criu=$CRIU
-CRIT=$(readlink -f `dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]}`/../../crit/crit)
+
+export PYTHONPATH="${BASE_DIR}/lib:${BASE_DIR}/crit:${PYTHONPATH-}"
+CRIT="python3 -m crit"
 crit=$CRIT
-CRIU_COREDUMP=$(readlink -f `dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]}`/../../coredump/coredump)
+
+CRIU_COREDUMP="${BASE_DIR}/coredump/coredump"
 criu_coredump=$CRIU_COREDUMP
diff --git a/test/pycriu b/test/pycriu
index d13a8790a..d1b6ed5c4 120000
--- a/test/pycriu
+++ b/test/pycriu
@@ -1 +1 @@
-../lib/py/
\ No newline at end of file
+../lib/pycriu
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/zdtm/static/socket-tcp-fin-wait1.hook b/test/zdtm/static/socket-tcp-fin-wait1.hook
index 9dcd08999..30f8ce071 100755
--- a/test/zdtm/static/socket-tcp-fin-wait1.hook
+++ b/test/zdtm/static/socket-tcp-fin-wait1.hook
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 import sys
 
-sys.path.append("../crit")
+sys.path.append("../lib")
 
 import pycriu
 import os, os.path