diff --git a/bitsandbytes/backends/utils.py b/bitsandbytes/backends/utils.py
index 34e3d5faa..bef07169c 100644
--- a/bitsandbytes/backends/utils.py
+++ b/bitsandbytes/backends/utils.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import subprocess
+from importlib.metadata import metadata
 
 from packaging import version
 import torch
@@ -67,17 +67,16 @@ def get_gaudi_sw_version():
     """
     Returns the installed version of Gaudi SW.
     """
-    output = subprocess.run(
-        "pip list | grep habana-torch-plugin",
-        shell=True,
-        text=True,
-        capture_output=True,
-    )
-    # If grep return nothing
-    if not output.stdout.strip():
-        return None
+    try:
+        # if we find the spec, examine the installed version
+        plugin_metadata = metadata("habana-torch-plugin")
+        plugin_version = plugin_metadata.get("Version")
+        if plugin_version:
+            gaudi_version = version.parse(plugin_version)
+    except Exception:
+        gaudi_version = None
 
-    return version.parse(output.stdout.split("\n")[0].split()[-1])
+    return gaudi_version
 
 
 GAUDI_SW_VER = get_gaudi_sw_version()