diff --git a/fawltydeps/check.py b/fawltydeps/check.py
index db67ad9e..56d0c95e 100644
--- a/fawltydeps/check.py
+++ b/fawltydeps/check.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 "Compare imports and dependencies"
 
+import logging
+import sys
 from itertools import groupby
-from typing import List, Tuple
+from typing import List, Optional, Tuple
 
 from fawltydeps.types import (
     DeclaredDependency,
@@ -10,6 +12,39 @@
     UnusedDependency,
 )
 
+# importlib.metadata.packages_distributions() was introduced in v3.10, but it
+# is not able to infer import names for modules lacking a top_level.txt until
+# v3.11. Hence we prefer importlib_metadata in v3.10 as well as pre-v3.10.
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 11):
+    from importlib.metadata import packages_distributions
+else:
+    from importlib_metadata import packages_distributions
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def find_import_names_from_package_name(package: str) -> Optional[List[str]]:
+    """Convert a package name to provided import names.
+
+    (Although this function generally works with _all_ packages, we will apply
+    it only to the subset that is the dependencies of the current project.)
+
+    Use importlib.metadata to look up the mapping between packages and their
+    provided import names, and return the import names associated with the given
+    package/distribution name in the current Python environment. This obviously
+    depends on which Python environment (e.g. virtualenv) we're calling from.
+
+    Return None if we're unable to find any import names for the given package.
+    This is typically because the package is missing from the current
+    environment, or because it fails to declare its importable modules.
+    """
+    ret = [
+        import_name
+        for import_name, packages in packages_distributions().items()
+        if package in packages
+    ]
+    return ret or None
+
 
 def compare_imports_to_dependencies(
     imports: List[ParsedImport], dependencies: List[DeclaredDependency]
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 99be720d..49bff0e8 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ testing = ["flake8 (<5)", "func-timeout", "jaraco.functools", "jaraco.itertools"
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "1.1"
 python-versions = "^3.7.2"
-content-hash = "b6162b2f7e92ef8f772cf9de22f2c9e5be07ca8b028bb8b5d1ae91fe33ab7ca6"
+content-hash = "79367c7b65d588e38b7017c220a775bf37e16b524bbd9f9132bddc9adb059744"
 
 [metadata.files]
 argcomplete = [
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 0f1e86f7..372368c6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ fawltydeps = "fawltydeps.main:main"
 # These are the main dependencies for fawltydeps at runtime.
 # Do not add anything here that is only needed by CI/tests/linters/developers
 python = "^3.7.2"
-importlib_metadata = {version = "^5.0.0", python = "<3.8"}
+importlib_metadata = {version = "^5.0.0", python = "<3.11"}
 isort = "^5.10"
 pydantic = "^1.10.4"
 tomli = {version = "^2.0.1", python = "<3.11"}
diff --git a/tests/test_map_dep_name_to_import_names.py b/tests/test_map_dep_name_to_import_names.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8dc7ac87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_map_dep_name_to_import_names.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+"""Test the mapping of dependency names to import names."""
+
+import pytest
+
+from fawltydeps.check import find_import_names_from_package_name
+
+# TODO: These tests are not fully isolated, i.e. they do not control the
+# virtualenv in which they run. For now, we assume that we are running in an
+# environment where at least these packages are available:
+# - setuptools (exposes multiple import names, including pkg_resources)
+# - pip (exposes a single import name: pip)
+# - isort (exposes no top_level.txt, but 'isort' import name can be inferred)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "dep_name,expect_import_names",
+    [
+        pytest.param(
+            "NOT_A_PACKAGE",
+            None,
+            id="missing_package__returns_None",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            "isort",
+            ["isort"],
+            id="package_exposes_nothing__can_still_infer_import_name",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            "pip",
+            ["pip"],
+            id="package_exposes_one_entry__returns_entry",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            "setuptools",
+            ["_distutils_hack", "pkg_resources", "setuptools"],
+            id="package_exposes_many_entries__returns_all_entries",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_find_import_names_from_package_name(dep_name, expect_import_names):
+    assert find_import_names_from_package_name(dep_name) == expect_import_names