diff --git a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
index c85ffa76..32ee3b4d 100644
--- a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
@@ -877,8 +877,9 @@ class MetadataPathFinder(NullFinder, DistributionFinder):
     of Python that do not have a PathFinder find_distributions().
     """
 
+    @classmethod
     def find_distributions(
-        self, context=DistributionFinder.Context()
+        cls, context=DistributionFinder.Context()
     ) -> Iterable[PathDistribution]:
         """
         Find distributions.
@@ -888,7 +889,7 @@ def find_distributions(
         (or all names if ``None`` indicated) along the paths in the list
         of directories ``context.path``.
         """
-        found = self._search_paths(context.name, context.path)
+        found = cls._search_paths(context.name, context.path)
         return map(PathDistribution, found)
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/newsfragments/484.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/484.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4274419b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/484.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Make MetadataPathFinder.find_distributions a classmethod for consistency with CPython. Closes #484.
\ No newline at end of file