diff --git a/python/python-community.iml b/python/python-community.iml
index e0aca64302e3..de44e2740069 100644
--- a/python/python-community.iml
+++ b/python/python-community.iml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     <orderEntry type="module" module-name="spellchecker" />
     <orderEntry type="module" module-name="xdebugger-impl" />
     <orderEntry type="module" module-name="xml-psi-impl" />
+    <orderEntry type="library" name="gson" level="project" />
   </component>
 </module>
 
diff --git a/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/PyPIPackageUtil.java b/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/PyPIPackageUtil.java
index 20e066313647..133780a244b2 100644
--- a/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/PyPIPackageUtil.java
+++ b/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/PyPIPackageUtil.java
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 package com.jetbrains.python.packaging;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+import com.google.gson.FieldNamingPolicy;
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;
 import com.intellij.openapi.application.ApplicationInfo;
 import com.intellij.openapi.application.ApplicationManager;
 import com.intellij.openapi.application.ApplicationNamesInfo;
@@ -26,31 +29,22 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.util.text.StringUtil;
 import com.intellij.util.CatchingConsumer;
 import com.intellij.util.containers.ContainerUtil;
 import com.intellij.util.io.HttpRequests;
-import com.intellij.util.net.HttpConfigurable;
 import com.intellij.webcore.packaging.PackageVersionComparator;
 import com.intellij.webcore.packaging.RepoPackage;
 import com.jetbrains.python.PythonHelpersLocator;
-import org.apache.xmlrpc.*;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NonNls;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
-import javax.net.ssl.HttpsURLConnection;
-import javax.net.ssl.SSLContext;
-import javax.net.ssl.TrustManager;
-import javax.net.ssl.X509TrustManager;
 import javax.swing.text.MutableAttributeSet;
 import javax.swing.text.html.HTML;
 import javax.swing.text.html.HTMLEditorKit;
 import javax.swing.text.html.parser.ParserDelegator;
-import java.io.*;
-import java.net.MalformedURLException;
-import java.net.URL;
+import java.io.FileReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.Reader;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.net.URLDecoder;
-import java.security.KeyManagementException;
-import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
-import java.security.SecureRandom;
-import java.security.cert.X509Certificate;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
@@ -59,9 +53,11 @@ import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 /**
  * User: catherine
  */
-@SuppressWarnings("UseOfObsoleteCollectionType")
 public class PyPIPackageUtil {
   private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getInstance(PyPIPackageUtil.class);
+  private static final Gson GSON = new GsonBuilder()
+    .setFieldNamingStrategy(FieldNamingPolicy.LOWER_CASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES)
+    .create();
   
   private static final String PYPI_HOST = "https://pypi.python.org";
   public static final String PYPI_URL = PYPI_HOST + "/pypi";
@@ -73,8 +69,7 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
   private static final Set<RepoPackage> ourAdditionalPackageNames = new TreeSet<>();
 
   public static final PyPIPackageUtil INSTANCE = new PyPIPackageUtil();
-  private XmlRpcClient myXmlRpcClient;
-  private final Map<String, Hashtable> packageToDetails = new HashMap<>();
+  private final Map<String, PackageDetails> myPackageToDetails = new HashMap<>();
   @Nullable private volatile Set<String> myPackageNames = null;
 
 
@@ -94,18 +89,6 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
    */
   private final Object myPyPIPackageCacheUpdateLock = new Object();
   
-
-  private PyPIPackageUtil() {
-    try {
-      final DefaultXmlRpcTransportFactory factory = new PyPIXmlRpcTransportFactory(new URL(PYPI_URL));
-      factory.setProperty("timeout", 1000);
-      myXmlRpcClient = new XmlRpcClient(new URL(PYPI_URL), factory);
-    }
-    catch (MalformedURLException e) {
-      LOG.warn(e);
-    }
-  }
-
   /**
    * Value for "User Agent" HTTP header in form: PyCharm/2016.2 EAP
    */
@@ -185,40 +168,30 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
     ourAdditionalPackageNames.clear();
   }
 
-  public void addPackageDetails(@NonNls String packageName, Hashtable details) {
-    packageToDetails.put(packageName, details);
-  }
-
-  @Nullable
-  private Hashtable getPackageDetails(@NotNull String packageName) {
-    return packageToDetails.get(packageName);
-  }
-
-  public void fillPackageDetails(@NotNull String packageName, @NotNull CatchingConsumer<Hashtable, Exception> callback) {
-    final Hashtable details = getPackageDetails(packageName);
-    if (details != null) {
-      callback.consume(details);
-      return;
-    }
+  public void fillPackageDetails(@NotNull String packageName, @NotNull CatchingConsumer<PackageDetails.Info, Exception> callback) {
     ApplicationManager.getApplication().executeOnPooledThread(() -> {
-      final Vector<String> params = new Vector<>();
-      params.add(packageName);
       try {
-        final String version = fetchLatestPackageVersion(packageName);
-        if (version != null) {
-          params.add(version);
-          final Object result = myXmlRpcClient.execute("release_data", params);
-          if (result != null) {
-            callback.consume((Hashtable)result);
-          }
-        }
+        final PackageDetails packageDetails = refreshAndGetPackageDetailsFromPyPI(packageName, false);
+        callback.consume(packageDetails.getInfo());
       }
-      catch (Exception e) {
+      catch (IOException e) {
         callback.consume(e);
       }
     });
   }
 
+  @NotNull
+  private PackageDetails refreshAndGetPackageDetailsFromPyPI(@NotNull String packageName, boolean alwaysRefresh) throws IOException {
+    PackageDetails details = myPackageToDetails.get(packageName);
+    if (alwaysRefresh || details == null) {
+      details = HttpRequests.request(PYPI_URL + "/" + packageName + "/json")
+        .userAgent(getUserAgent())
+        .connect(request -> GSON.fromJson(request.getReader(), PackageDetails.class));
+      myPackageToDetails.put(packageName, details);
+    }
+    return details;
+  }
+
   public void addPackageReleases(@NotNull String packageName, @NotNull List<String> releases) {
     ourPackageToReleases.put(packageName, releases);
   }
@@ -226,19 +199,13 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
   public void usePackageReleases(@NotNull String packageName, @NotNull CatchingConsumer<List<String>, Exception> callback) {
     ApplicationManager.getApplication().executeOnPooledThread(() -> {
       try {
-        final List<String> releases = getPackageVersionsFromAdditionalRepositories(packageName);
-        if (releases == null) {
-          final Vector<String> params = new Vector<>();
-          params.add(packageName);
-          params.add("show_hidden=True");
-          final Object result = myXmlRpcClient.execute("package_releases", params);
-          if (result != null) {
-            //noinspection unchecked
-            callback.consume((List<String>)result);
-          }
+        final List<String> releasesFromSimpleIndex = getPackageVersionsFromAdditionalRepositories(packageName);
+        if (releasesFromSimpleIndex == null) {
+          final List<String> releasesFromPyPI = getPackageVersionsFromPyPI(packageName, true);
+          callback.consume(releasesFromPyPI);
         }
         else {
-          callback.consume(releases);
+          callback.consume(releasesFromSimpleIndex);
         }
       }
       catch (Exception e) {
@@ -247,6 +214,31 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
     });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Fetches available package versions using JSON API of PyPI.
+   */
+  @NotNull
+  private List<String> getPackageVersionsFromPyPI(@NotNull String packageName, 
+                                                  boolean force) throws IOException {
+    final PackageDetails details = refreshAndGetPackageDetailsFromPyPI(packageName, force);
+    final List<String> result = details.getReleases();
+    result.sort(PackageVersionComparator.VERSION_COMPARATOR.reversed());
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(result);
+  }
+
+  @Nullable
+  private String getLatestPackageVersionFromPyPI(@NotNull String packageName) throws IOException {
+    LOG.debug("Requesting the latest PyPI version for the package " + packageName);
+    final List<String> versions = getPackageVersionsFromPyPI(packageName, true);
+    final String latest = ContainerUtil.getFirstItem(versions);
+    getPyPIPackages().put(packageName, StringUtil.notNullize(latest));
+    return latest;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Fetches available package versions by scrapping the page containing package archives. 
+   * It's primarily used for additional repositories since, e.g. devpi doesn't provide another way to get this information.
+   */
   @Nullable
   private static List<String> getPackageVersionsFromAdditionalRepositories(@NotNull @NonNls String packageName) throws IOException {
     if (ourPackageToReleases.containsKey(packageName)) {
@@ -254,7 +246,7 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
     }
     final List<String> repositories = PyPackageService.getInstance().additionalRepositories;
     for (String repository : repositories) {
-      final List<String> versions = getVersionsFromRepository(packageName, repository);
+      final List<String> versions = parsePackageVersionsFromArchives(composeSimpleUrl(packageName, repository));
       if (!versions.isEmpty()) {
         ourPackageToReleases.put(packageName, versions);
         return versions;
@@ -269,28 +261,8 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
     return ContainerUtil.getFirstItem(versions);
   }
 
-  @NotNull
-  private static List<String> getPackageVersionsFromPyPI(@NotNull String packageName) throws IOException {
-    return getVersionsFromRepository(packageName, PYPI_LIST_URL);
-  }
-
   @Nullable
-  private static String getLatestPackageVersionFromPyPI(@NotNull String packageName) throws IOException {
-    LOG.debug("Requesting the latest PyPI version for the package " + packageName);
-    final List<String> versions = getPackageVersionsFromPyPI(packageName);
-    final String latest = ContainerUtil.getFirstItem(versions);
-    getPyPIPackages().put(packageName, StringUtil.notNullize(latest));
-    return latest;
-  }
-
-  @NotNull
-  private static List<String> getVersionsFromRepository(@NotNull String packageName, @NotNull String repository) throws IOException {
-    final String packageArchivesSimpleUrl = composeSimpleUrl(packageName, repository);
-    return parsePackageVersionsFromArchives(packageArchivesSimpleUrl);
-  }
-
-  @Nullable
-  public static String fetchLatestPackageVersion(@NotNull String packageName) throws IOException {
+  public String fetchLatestPackageVersion(@NotNull String packageName) throws IOException {
     String version = getPyPIPackages().get(packageName);
     // Package is on PyPI but it's version is unknown
     if (version != null && version.isEmpty()) {
@@ -443,67 +415,54 @@ public class PyPIPackageUtil {
     return myPackageNames != null && myPackageNames.contains(packageName.toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH));
   }
 
-  private static class PyPIXmlRpcTransport extends DefaultXmlRpcTransport {
-    public PyPIXmlRpcTransport(URL url) {
-      super(url);
+  @SuppressWarnings("FieldMayBeFinal")
+  public static final class PackageDetails {
+    public static final class Info {
+      private String version = "";
+      private String author = "";
+
+      private String authorEmail = "";
+      private String homePage = "";
+      private String summary = "";
+
+      
+      @NotNull
+      public String getVersion() {
+        return version;
+      }
+
+      @NotNull
+      public String getAuthor() {
+        return author;
+      }
+
+      @NotNull
+      public String getAuthorEmail() {
+        return authorEmail;
+      }
+
+      @NotNull
+      public String getHomePage() {
+        return homePage;
+      }
+
+      @NotNull
+      public String getSummary() {
+        return summary;
+      }
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public InputStream sendXmlRpc(@NotNull byte[] request) throws IOException {
-      // Create a trust manager that does not validate certificate for this connection
-      final TrustManager[] trustAllCerts = new TrustManager[]{new PyPITrustManager()};
+    private Info info = new Info();
+    private Map<String, Object> releases = Collections.emptyMap();
 
-      try {
-        final SSLContext sslContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
-        sslContext.init(null, trustAllCerts, new SecureRandom());
-
-        final HttpConfigurable settings = HttpConfigurable.getInstance();
-        con = settings.openConnection(PYPI_HOST + "/pypi?%3Aaction=index");
-        if (con instanceof HttpsURLConnection) {
-          ((HttpsURLConnection)con).setSSLSocketFactory(sslContext.getSocketFactory());
-        }
-        con.setDoInput(true);
-        con.setDoOutput(true);
-        con.setUseCaches(false);
-        con.setAllowUserInteraction(false);
-        con.setRequestProperty("Content-Length",
-                               Integer.toString(request.length));
-        con.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "text/xml");
-        if (auth != null)
-        {
-          con.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " + auth);
-        }
-        final OutputStream out = con.getOutputStream();
-        out.write(request);
-        out.flush();
-        out.close();
-        return con.getInputStream();
-      }
-      catch (@NotNull NoSuchAlgorithmException | KeyManagementException e) {
-        LOG.warn(e.getMessage());
-      }
-      return super.sendXmlRpc(request);
-    }
-  }
-
-  private static class PyPIXmlRpcTransportFactory extends DefaultXmlRpcTransportFactory {
-    public PyPIXmlRpcTransportFactory(URL url) {
-      super(url);
+    @NotNull
+    public Info getInfo() {
+      return info;
     }
 
     @NotNull
-    @Override
-    public XmlRpcTransport createTransport() throws XmlRpcClientException {
-      return new PyPIXmlRpcTransport(url);
+    public List<String> getReleases() {
+      return new ArrayList<>(releases.keySet());
     }
   }
-
-  private static class PyPITrustManager implements X509TrustManager {
-    @Override
-    public X509Certificate[] getAcceptedIssuers(){return null;}
-    @Override
-    public void checkClientTrusted(X509Certificate[] certs, String authType){}
-    @Override
-    public void checkServerTrusted(X509Certificate[] certs, String authType){}
-  }
 }
diff --git a/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/ui/PyPackageManagementService.java b/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/ui/PyPackageManagementService.java
index bacbed9e8d05..c10bb098b3e5 100644
--- a/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/ui/PyPackageManagementService.java
+++ b/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/packaging/ui/PyPackageManagementService.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import com.intellij.webcore.packaging.InstalledPackage;
 import com.intellij.webcore.packaging.PackageManagementServiceEx;
 import com.intellij.webcore.packaging.RepoPackage;
 import com.jetbrains.python.packaging.*;
+import com.jetbrains.python.packaging.PyPIPackageUtil.PackageDetails;
 import com.jetbrains.python.psi.LanguageLevel;
 import com.jetbrains.python.sdk.PySdkUtil;
 import com.jetbrains.python.sdk.PythonSdkType;
@@ -43,7 +44,6 @@ import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 /**
  * @author yole
  */
-@SuppressWarnings("UseOfObsoleteCollectionType")
 public class PyPackageManagementService extends PackageManagementServiceEx {
   @NotNull private static final Pattern PATTERN_ERROR_LINE = Pattern.compile(".*error:.*", Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
   @NonNls private static final String TEXT_PREFIX = "<html><head>" +
@@ -255,11 +255,10 @@ public class PyPackageManagementService extends PackageManagementServiceEx {
 
   @Override
   public void fetchPackageDetails(@NotNull String packageName, @NotNull CatchingConsumer<String, Exception> consumer) {
-    PyPIPackageUtil.INSTANCE.fillPackageDetails(packageName, new CatchingConsumer<Hashtable, Exception>() {
+    PyPIPackageUtil.INSTANCE.fillPackageDetails(packageName, new CatchingConsumer<PackageDetails.Info, Exception>() {
       @Override
-      public void consume(Hashtable details) {
-        PyPIPackageUtil.INSTANCE.addPackageDetails(packageName, details);
-        consumer.consume(formatPackageDetails(details));
+      public void consume(PackageDetails.Info details) {
+        consumer.consume(formatPackageInfo(details));
       }
 
       @Override
@@ -269,31 +268,31 @@ public class PyPackageManagementService extends PackageManagementServiceEx {
     });
   }
 
-  private static String formatPackageDetails(@NotNull Hashtable details) {
-    final Object description = details.get("summary");
+  private static String formatPackageInfo(@NotNull PackageDetails.Info info) {
     final StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder(TEXT_PREFIX);
-    if (description instanceof String) {
+    final String description = info.getSummary();
+    if (StringUtil.isNotEmpty(description)) {
       stringBuilder.append(description).append("<br/>");
     }
-    final Object version = details.get("version");
-    if (version instanceof String && !StringUtil.isEmpty((String)version)) {
+    final String version = info.getVersion();
+    if (StringUtil.isNotEmpty(version)) {
       stringBuilder.append("<h4>Version</h4>");
       stringBuilder.append(version);
     }
-    final Object author = details.get("author");
-    if (author instanceof String && !StringUtil.isEmpty((String)author)) {
+    final String author = info.getAuthor();
+    if (StringUtil.isNotEmpty(author)) {
       stringBuilder.append("<h4>Author</h4>");
       stringBuilder.append(author).append("<br/><br/>");
     }
-    final Object authorEmail = details.get("author_email");
-    if (authorEmail instanceof String && !StringUtil.isEmpty((String)authorEmail)) {
+    final String authorEmail = info.getAuthorEmail();
+    if (StringUtil.isNotEmpty(authorEmail)) {
       stringBuilder.append("<br/>");
       stringBuilder.append(composeHref("mailto:" + authorEmail));
     }
-    final Object homePage = details.get("home_page");
-    if (homePage instanceof String && !StringUtil.isEmpty((String)homePage)) {
+    final String homePage = info.getHomePage();
+    if (StringUtil.isNotEmpty(homePage)) {
       stringBuilder.append("<br/>");
-      stringBuilder.append(composeHref((String)homePage));
+      stringBuilder.append(composeHref(homePage));
     }
     stringBuilder.append(TEXT_SUFFIX);
     return stringBuilder.toString();
@@ -389,7 +388,7 @@ public class PyPackageManagementService extends PackageManagementServiceEx {
     ApplicationManager.getApplication().executeOnPooledThread(() -> {
       try {
         PyPIPackageUtil.INSTANCE.loadAndGetPackages();
-        final String version = PyPIPackageUtil.fetchLatestPackageVersion(pkg.getName());
+        final String version = PyPIPackageUtil.INSTANCE.fetchLatestPackageVersion(pkg.getName());
         consumer.consume(StringUtil.notNullize(version));
       }
       catch (IOException e) {