diff --git a/jax/_src/xla_bridge.py b/jax/_src/xla_bridge.py
index 18fcb354aedb..4c11d15e9d12 100644
--- a/jax/_src/xla_bridge.py
+++ b/jax/_src/xla_bridge.py
@@ -360,20 +360,14 @@ def discover_pjrt_plugins() -> None:
   if sys.version_info < (3, 10):
     # Use the backport library because it provides a forward-compatible
     # implementation.
-    try:
-      from importlib_metadata import entry_points
-    except ModuleNotFoundError:
-      logger.debug(
-          "No importlib_metadata found (for Python < 3.10): "
-          "Plugins advertised from entrypoints will not be found.")
-      entry_points = None
+    from importlib_metadata import entry_points
   else:
     from importlib.metadata import entry_points
-  if entry_points:
-    for entry_point in entry_points(group="jax_plugins"):
-      logger.debug("Discovered entry-point based JAX plugin: %s",
-                   entry_point.value)
-      plugin_modules.add(entry_point.value)
+
+  for entry_point in entry_points(group="jax_plugins"):
+    logger.debug("Discovered entry-point based JAX plugin: %s",
+                 entry_point.value)
+    plugin_modules.add(entry_point.value)
 
   # Now load and initialize them all.
   for plugin_module_name in plugin_modules:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 75cf89dba95e..0bcb23b78bf7 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -67,6 +67,10 @@ def generate_proto(source):
         'numpy>=1.21',
         'opt_einsum',
         'scipy>=1.7',
+        # Required by xla_bridge.discover_pjrt_plugins for forwards compat with
+        # Python versions < 3.10. Can be dropped when 3.10 is the minimum
+        # required Python version.
+        'importlib_metadata>=4.6;python_version<"3.10"',
     ],
     extras_require={
         # Minimum jaxlib version; used in testing.
@@ -82,9 +86,7 @@ def generate_proto(source):
         # Cloud TPU VM jaxlib can be installed via:
         # $ pip install jax[tpu] -f https://storage.googleapis.com/jax-releases/libtpu_releases.html
         'tpu': [f'jaxlib=={_current_jaxlib_version}',
-                f'libtpu-nightly=={_libtpu_version}',
-                # Required by cloud_tpu_init.py
-                'requests'],
+                f'libtpu-nightly=={_libtpu_version}'],
 
         # $ pip install jax[australis]
         'australis': ['protobuf>=3.13,<4'],