diff --git a/tools/release/publish_zenodo.py b/tools/release/publish_zenodo.py
index 56dd80bb7..0e05c7b7f 100644
--- a/tools/release/publish_zenodo.py
+++ b/tools/release/publish_zenodo.py
@@ -6,10 +6,14 @@
 import mimetypes
 import os
 import sys
-import tomllib
 from pathlib import Path
 from urllib import error, parse, request
 
+try:
+    import tomllib
+except ModuleNotFoundError:  # pragma: no cover
+    import tomli as tomllib
+
 try:
     import yaml
 except ImportError as exc:  # pragma: no cover - exercised in release workflow
diff --git a/ultraplot/tests/test_release_metadata.py b/ultraplot/tests/test_release_metadata.py
index 784fd14ed..c36fa170f 100644
--- a/ultraplot/tests/test_release_metadata.py
+++ b/ultraplot/tests/test_release_metadata.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 import importlib.util
 import re
 import subprocess
-import tomllib
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
@@ -87,8 +86,7 @@ def test_zenodo_release_metadata_is_built_from_repository_sources():
     """
     publish_zenodo = _load_publish_zenodo()
     citation = yaml.safe_load(CITATION_CFF.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
-    with PYPROJECT.open("rb") as handle:
-        pyproject = tomllib.load(handle)
+    pyproject = publish_zenodo.load_pyproject(PYPROJECT)
     metadata = publish_zenodo.build_metadata(citation, pyproject)
     assert metadata["title"] == citation["title"]
     assert metadata["upload_type"] == "software"