diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 6d6b31d4e..21284930a 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     libpq-dev \
     libssl-dev libffi-dev \
     python3.9 python3.9-dev python3.9-venv libpython3.9-dev libpython3.9 \
-    python3.9-distutils \
     unixodbc-dev git lsb-release \
     alien odbcinst
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile-dev b/Dockerfile-dev
index e66a97483..1a11c17ce 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-dev
+++ b/Dockerfile-dev
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     libsasl2-dev \
     libssl-dev libffi-dev \
     python3.9 python3.9-dev python3.9-venv libpython3.9-dev libpython3.9 \
-    python3.9-distutils \
     unixodbc-dev git && \
     apt-get clean -qq -y && \
     apt-get autoclean -qq -y && \
diff --git a/soda/core/soda/common/env_helper.py b/soda/core/soda/common/env_helper.py
index f68638537..b73dd9dd8 100644
--- a/soda/core/soda/common/env_helper.py
+++ b/soda/core/soda/common/env_helper.py
@@ -1,12 +1,24 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
-from distutils.util import strtobool
 
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from soda.common.logs import Logs
 
 
+def strtobool(val: str) -> bool:
+    if not isinstance(val, str):
+        raise ValueError(f"Invalid type for truth value: {type(val).__name__}. Expected str, got {val!r}")
+    if val.lower() in ("yes", "y", "true", "t", "on", "1"):
+        return True
+    elif val.lower() in ("no", "n", "false", "f", "off", "0"):
+        return False
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Invalid truth value: {val!r}. Expected one of: yes, y, true, t, on, 1, no, n, false, f, off, 0"
+        )
+
+
 class EnvHelper:
     __instance = None
 
diff --git a/soda/core/soda/telemetry/soda_telemetry.py b/soda/core/soda/telemetry/soda_telemetry.py
index e1ad927b4..5347d7660 100644
--- a/soda/core/soda/telemetry/soda_telemetry.py
+++ b/soda/core/soda/telemetry/soda_telemetry.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import logging
 import os
 import platform
-from distutils.util import strtobool
 from typing import Dict
 
 from opentelemetry import trace
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@
 from opentelemetry.semconv.resource import ResourceAttributes
 from soda.__version__ import SODA_CORE_VERSION
 from soda.common.config_helper import ConfigHelper
+from soda.common.env_helper import strtobool
 
 # from soda.execution.data_source import DataSource
 from soda.telemetry.memory_span_exporter import MemorySpanExporter
@@ -85,8 +85,8 @@ def __init__(self, test_mode: bool):
 
     def __setup(self):
         """Set up Open Telemetry processors and exporters for normal use."""
-        local_debug_mode = self.soda_config.get_value("telemetry_local_debug_mode") or bool(
-            strtobool(os.getenv("telemetry_local_debug_mode", "false"))
+        local_debug_mode = self.soda_config.get_value("telemetry_local_debug_mode") or strtobool(
+            os.getenv("telemetry_local_debug_mode", "false")
         )
 
         if local_debug_mode or logger.getEffectiveLevel() == logging.DEBUG: