diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/disutils.version.yml b/changelogs/fragments/disutils.version.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..48f69e4bd09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/disutils.version.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - "Various modules and plugins - use vendored version of ``distutils.version`` included in ansible-core 2.12 if available. This avoids breakage when ``distutils`` is removed from the standard library of Python 3.12. Note that ansible-core 2.11, ansible-base 2.10 and Ansible 2.9 are right now not compatible with Python 3.12, hence this fix does not target these ansible-core/-base/2.9 versions."
diff --git a/molecule/default/roles/helm/library/helm_test_version.py b/molecule/default/roles/helm/library/helm_test_version.py
index 3068597d5c1..06a3fdfe252 100644
--- a/molecule/default/roles/helm/library/helm_test_version.py
+++ b/molecule/default/roles/helm/library/helm_test_version.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 '''
 
 import re
-from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+from ansible_collections.kubernetes.core.plugins.module_utils.version import LooseVersion
 
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
 
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/common.py b/plugins/module_utils/common.py
index 1be5513ce91..4446a85e522 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/common.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/common.py
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@
 import sys
 import hashlib
 from datetime import datetime
-from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+
+from ansible_collections.kubernetes.core.plugins.module_utils.version import LooseVersion
 
 from ansible_collections.kubernetes.core.plugins.module_utils.args_common import (
     AUTH_ARG_MAP,
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/version.py b/plugins/module_utils/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3d7d6a87d4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# Copyright: (c) 2021, Felix Fontein <felix@fontein.de>
+# GNU General Public License v3.0+ (see COPYING or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt)
+
+"""Provide Version object to compare version numbers."""
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+from ansible.module_utils.six import raise_from
+
+try:
+    from ansible.module_utils.compat.version import LooseVersion
+except ImportError:
+    try:
+        from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+    except ImportError as exc:
+        raise_from(ImportError('To use this plugin or module with ansible-core < 2.11, you need to use Python < 3.12 with distutils.version present'), exc)
diff --git a/plugins/modules/helm.py b/plugins/modules/helm.py
index 7e9a7067a90..7cd30686f44 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/helm.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/helm.py
@@ -308,7 +308,8 @@
 
 import tempfile
 import traceback
-from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+from ansible_collections.kubernetes.core.plugins.module_utils.version import LooseVersion
+
 
 try:
     import yaml