diff --git a/google/__init__.py b/google/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d71b1e55..00000000
--- a/google/__init__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-#
-# Copyright 2020 Google LLC
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-import pkg_resources
-
-pkg_resources.declare_namespace(__name__)
diff --git a/google/cloud/__init__.py b/google/cloud/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d71b1e55..00000000
--- a/google/cloud/__init__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-#
-# Copyright 2020 Google LLC
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-import pkg_resources
-
-pkg_resources.declare_namespace(__name__)
diff --git a/google/cloud/pubsublite/internal/wire/pubsub_context.py b/google/cloud/pubsublite/internal/wire/pubsub_context.py
index 802f067c..da363d1e 100644
--- a/google/cloud/pubsublite/internal/wire/pubsub_context.py
+++ b/google/cloud/pubsublite/internal/wire/pubsub_context.py
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@
 from typing import Mapping, Optional, NamedTuple
 
 import logging
-import pkg_resources
+
 from google.protobuf import struct_pb2  # pytype: disable=pyi-error
 
+from google.cloud.pubsublite import gapic_version
+
 
 _LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -29,13 +31,7 @@ class _Semver(NamedTuple):
 
 
 def _version() -> _Semver:
-    try:
-        version = pkg_resources.get_distribution("google-cloud-pubsublite").version
-    except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
-        _LOGGER.info(
-            "Failed to extract the google-cloud-pubsublite semver version. DistributionNotFound."
-        )
-        return _Semver(0, 0)
+    version = gapic_version.__version__
     splits = version.split(".")
     if len(splits) != 3:
         _LOGGER.info(f"Failed to extract semver from {version}.")
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index 937cd8da..93813ce8 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -311,7 +311,8 @@ def pytype(session):
     """Run type checks."""
     install_test_deps(session)
     session.install(PYTYPE_VERSION)
-    session.run("pytype", "google/cloud/pubsublite")
+    # See https://github.com/google/pytype/issues/464
+    session.run("pytype", "-P", ".", "google/cloud/pubsublite")
 
 
 @nox.session(python="3.10")
diff --git a/owlbot.py b/owlbot.py
index 184dfb4a..531b6e15 100644
--- a/owlbot.py
+++ b/owlbot.py
@@ -132,12 +132,14 @@ def pytype(session):
     \"\"\"Run type checks.\"\"\"
     install_test_deps(session)
     session.install(PYTYPE_VERSION)
-    session.run("pytype", "google/cloud/pubsublite")
+    # See https://github.com/google/pytype/issues/464
+    session.run("pytype", "-P", ".", "google/cloud/pubsublite")
 
 @nox.session(python="3.10")
 def docfx(session):""",
 )
 
+
 python.py_samples(skip_readmes=True)
 
 # run format session for all directories which have a noxfile
diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
index 9c3eeb3b..f2e222f2 100644
--- a/release-please-config.json
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
         "release-type": "python",
         "extra-files": [
           "google/cloud/pubsublite/gapic_version.py",
+          "google/cloud/pubsublite_v1/gapic_version.py",
           {
             "type": "json",
             "path": "samples/generated_samples/snippet_metadata_google.cloud.pubsublite.v1.json",
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_packaging.py b/tests/unit/test_packaging.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c3974ce6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_packaging.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Copyright 2023 Google LLC
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+
+def test_namespace_package_compat(tmp_path):
+    # The ``google`` namespace package should not be masked
+    # by the presence of ``google-cloud-pubsublite``.
+    google = tmp_path / "google"
+    google.mkdir()
+    google.joinpath("othermod.py").write_text("")
+    env = dict(os.environ, PYTHONPATH=str(tmp_path))
+    cmd = [sys.executable, "-m", "google.othermod"]
+    subprocess.check_call(cmd, env=env)
+
+    # The ``google.cloud`` namespace package should not be masked
+    # by the presence of ``google-cloud-pubsublite``.
+    google_cloud = tmp_path / "google" / "cloud"
+    google_cloud.mkdir()
+    google_cloud.joinpath("othermod.py").write_text("")
+    env = dict(os.environ, PYTHONPATH=str(tmp_path))
+    cmd = [sys.executable, "-m", "google.cloud.othermod"]
+    subprocess.check_call(cmd, env=env)