diff --git a/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/gdbus-codegen.in b/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/gdbus-codegen.in
index 9c409e6..1913b6d 100755
--- a/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/gdbus-codegen.in
+++ b/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/gdbus-codegen.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!@PYTHON@
+#!/usr/bin/env @PYTHON@
 
 # GDBus - GLib D-Bus Library
 #
diff --git a/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/meson.build b/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/meson.build
index 67ea9f2..2ee1fc8 100644
--- a/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/meson.build
+++ b/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/meson.build
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ gdbus_codegen_conf = configuration_data()
 gdbus_codegen_conf.set('VERSION', glib_version)
 gdbus_codegen_conf.set('MAJOR_VERSION', major_version)
 gdbus_codegen_conf.set('MINOR_VERSION', minor_version)
-gdbus_codegen_conf.set('PYTHON', python.full_path())
+gdbus_codegen_conf.set('PYTHON', python_name)
 gdbus_codegen_conf.set('DATADIR', glib_datadir)
 
 # Install gdbus-codegen executable
diff --git a/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/utils.py b/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/utils.py
index 6399945..86024d7 100644
--- a/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/utils.py
+++ b/gio/gdbus-2.0/codegen/utils.py
@@ -21,10 +21,9 @@
 #
 # Author: David Zeuthen <davidz@redhat.com>
 
-import packaging.version
 import os
 import sys
-
+import re
 
 # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
 class Color:
@@ -161,11 +160,35 @@ def lookup_brief_docs(annotations):
 def version_cmp_key(key):
     # If the 'since' version is 'UNRELEASED', compare higher than anything else
     # If it is empty put a 0 in its place as this will
-    # allow LooseVersion to work and will always compare lower.
+    # allow _parse_version() to work and will always compare lower.
     if key[0] == "UNRELEASED":
         v = "9999"
     elif key[0]:
         v = str(key[0])
     else:
         v = "0"
-    return (packaging.version.Version(v), key[1])
+    return (_parse_version(v), key[1])
+
+
+def _parse_version(version):
+    """
+    Parse a version string into a list of integers and strings.
+
+    This function takes a version string and breaks it down into its component parts.
+    It separates numeric and non-numeric segments, converting numeric segments to integers.
+
+    Args:
+        version (str): The version string to parse.
+
+    Returns:
+        list: A list where each element is either an integer (for numeric parts)
+              or a string (for non-numeric parts).
+
+    Example:
+        >>> parseversion("1.2.3a")
+        [1, 2, 3, 'a']
+        >>> parseversion("2.0.0-rc1")
+        [2, 0, 0, 'rc1']
+    """
+    blocks = re.findall(r"(\d+|\w+)", version)
+    return [int(b) if b.isdigit() else b for b in blocks]
diff --git a/glib/gtester-report.in b/glib/gtester-report.in
index 0745d53..b8291d2 100644
--- a/glib/gtester-report.in
+++ b/glib/gtester-report.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!@PYTHON@
+#! /usr/bin/env @PYTHON@
 # GLib Testing Framework Utility			-*- Mode: python; -*-
 # Copyright (C) 2007 Imendio AB
 # Authors: Tim Janik
diff --git a/glib/meson.build b/glib/meson.build
index b2dd569..5c29bb7 100644
--- a/glib/meson.build
+++ b/glib/meson.build
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ endif
 
 report_conf = configuration_data()
 report_conf.set('GLIB_VERSION', glib_version)
-report_conf.set('PYTHON', python.full_path())
+report_conf.set('PYTHON', python_name)
 configure_file(
   input: 'gtester-report.in',
   output: 'gtester-report',
diff --git a/gobject/glib-genmarshal.in b/gobject/glib-genmarshal.in
index 0578b74..aa5af43 100755
--- a/gobject/glib-genmarshal.in
+++ b/gobject/glib-genmarshal.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!@PYTHON@
+#!/usr/bin/env @PYTHON@
 
 # pylint: disable=too-many-lines, missing-docstring, invalid-name
 
diff --git a/gobject/glib-mkenums.in b/gobject/glib-mkenums.in
index 7e794e9..e10b910 100755
--- a/gobject/glib-mkenums.in
+++ b/gobject/glib-mkenums.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!@PYTHON@
+#!/usr/bin/env @PYTHON@
 
 # If the code below looks horrible and unpythonic, do not panic.
 #
diff --git a/gobject/meson.build b/gobject/meson.build
index 78b732b..2129aaf 100644
--- a/gobject/meson.build
+++ b/gobject/meson.build
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ python_tools = [
 
 python_tools_conf = configuration_data()
 python_tools_conf.set('VERSION', glib_version)
-python_tools_conf.set('PYTHON', python.full_path())
+python_tools_conf.set('PYTHON', python_name)
 
 foreach tool: python_tools
   tool_bin = configure_file(
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index bcc2887..6cca73d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2457,7 +2457,9 @@ endif
 
 glib_conf.set('HAVE_PROC_SELF_CMDLINE', have_proc_self_cmdline)
 
-python = import('python').find_installation(modules: ['packaging'])
+python = import('python').find_installation()
+# used for '#!/usr/bin/env <name>'
+python_name = 'python3'
 
 python_version = python.language_version()
 python_version_req = '>=3.7'