diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 1b7e7a88..6086421e 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ include .project
 include .pydevproject
 include .yamllint
 include _release_date
+include linkcheck/data/linkcheckerrc
 
 recursive-include cgi-bin               \
     *.css                               \
@@ -23,8 +24,7 @@ recursive-include cgi-bin               \
 recursive-include config                \
     *.sql                               \
     linkchecker-completion              \
-    linkchecker.apache2.conf            \
-    linkcheckerrc
+    linkchecker.apache2.conf
 recursive-include doc                   \
     *.1                                 \
     *.5                                 \
diff --git a/linkcheck/__init__.py b/linkcheck/__init__.py
index c3543f57..a13f0a49 100644
--- a/linkcheck/__init__.py
+++ b/linkcheck/__init__.py
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ from .logconf import (
 )
 import _LinkChecker_configdata as configdata
 
+PACKAGE_NAME = __package__
+
 
 def module_path():
     """Return absolute directory of system executable."""
diff --git a/linkcheck/configuration/__init__.py b/linkcheck/configuration/__init__.py
index 42bd2ba1..43b8539f 100644
--- a/linkcheck/configuration/__init__.py
+++ b/linkcheck/configuration/__init__.py
@@ -17,13 +17,14 @@
 Store metadata and options.
 """
 
+import importlib.resources
 import os
 import re
 import urllib.parse
 import shutil
 import socket
 import _LinkChecker_configdata as configdata
-from .. import log, LOG_CHECK, get_install_data, fileutil
+from .. import log, LOG_CHECK, PACKAGE_NAME, fileutil
 from . import confparse
 from xdg.BaseDirectory import xdg_config_home, xdg_data_home
 
@@ -89,11 +90,6 @@ def get_modules_info():
     return "Modules: %s" % (", ".join(module_infos))
 
 
-def get_share_dir():
-    """Return absolute path of LinkChecker example configuration."""
-    return os.path.join(get_install_data(), "share", "linkchecker")
-
-
 def get_system_cert_file():
     """Try to find a system-wide SSL certificate file.
     @return: the filename to the cert file
@@ -368,8 +364,6 @@ def get_user_config():
     @return configuration filename
     @rtype string
     """
-    # initial config (with all options explained)
-    initialconf = normpath(os.path.join(get_share_dir(), "linkcheckerrc"))
     # per user config settings
     homedotfile = normpath("~/.linkchecker/linkcheckerrc")
     userconf = (
@@ -377,18 +371,21 @@ def get_user_config():
         if os.path.isfile(homedotfile)
         else os.path.join(xdg_config_home, "linkchecker", "linkcheckerrc")
     )
-    if os.path.isfile(initialconf) and not os.path.exists(userconf):
-        # copy the initial configuration to the user configuration
-        try:
-            make_userdir(userconf)
-            shutil.copy(initialconf, userconf)
-        except Exception as errmsg:
-            msg = _(
-                "could not copy initial configuration file %(src)r"
-                " to %(dst)r: %(errmsg)r"
-            )
-            args = dict(src=initialconf, dst=userconf, errmsg=errmsg)
-            log.warn(LOG_CHECK, msg % args)
+    if not os.path.exists(userconf):
+        # initial config (with all options explained)
+        with importlib.resources.path(
+                f"{PACKAGE_NAME}.data", "linkcheckerrc") as initialconf:
+            # copy the initial configuration to the user configuration
+            try:
+                make_userdir(userconf)
+                shutil.copy(initialconf, userconf)
+            except Exception as errmsg:
+                msg = _(
+                    "could not copy initial configuration file %(src)r"
+                    " to %(dst)r: %(errmsg)r"
+                )
+                args = dict(src=initialconf, dst=userconf, errmsg=errmsg)
+                log.warn(LOG_CHECK, msg % args)
     return userconf
 
 
diff --git a/linkcheck/data/__init__.py b/linkcheck/data/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/config/linkcheckerrc b/linkcheck/data/linkcheckerrc
similarity index 100%
rename from config/linkcheckerrc
rename to linkcheck/data/linkcheckerrc
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 22409a49..bcb9c2d0 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -294,7 +294,6 @@ myname = "LinkChecker Authors"
 myemail = ""
 
 data_files = [
-    ("share/linkchecker", ["config/linkcheckerrc"]),
     (
         "share/linkchecker/examples",
         [
@@ -358,6 +357,7 @@ setup(
         ]
     },
     data_files=data_files,
+    include_package_data=True,
     classifiers=[
         "Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: Site Management :: Link Checking",
         "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",