diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 35c6f8625c..9ab17f5573 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
     "classnames": "^2.1.2",
     "commonmark": "^0.28.1",
     "counterpart": "^0.18.0",
+    "create-react-class": "^15.6.0",
     "diff-dom": "^4.1.3",
     "diff-match-patch": "^1.0.4",
     "emojibase-data": "^4.0.1",
diff --git a/src/Modal.js b/src/Modal.js
index debfc37011..fd0fdc0501 100644
--- a/src/Modal.js
+++ b/src/Modal.js
@@ -15,11 +15,10 @@ limitations under the License.
 */
 
 
-'use strict';
-
-const React = require('react');
-const ReactDOM = require('react-dom');
+import React from 'react';
+import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
+import createReactClass from 'create-react-class';
 import Analytics from './Analytics';
 import sdk from './index';
 import dis from './dispatcher';
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ const STATIC_DIALOG_CONTAINER_ID = "mx_Dialog_StaticContainer";
  * Wrap an asynchronous loader function with a react component which shows a
  * spinner until the real component loads.
  */
-const AsyncWrapper = React.createClass({
+const AsyncWrapper = createReactClass({
     propTypes: {
         /** A promise which resolves with the real component
          */
diff --git a/src/Velociraptor.js b/src/Velociraptor.js
index d2cae5c2a7..b7a2d7fb40 100644
--- a/src/Velociraptor.js
+++ b/src/Velociraptor.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const React = require('react');
 const ReactDom = require('react-dom');
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
+import createReactClass from 'create-react-class';
 const Velocity = require('velocity-animate');
 
 /**
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ const Velocity = require('velocity-animate');
  * from DOM order. This makes it a lot simpler and lighter: if you need fully
  * automatic positional animation, look at react-shuffle or similar libraries.
  */
-module.exports = React.createClass({
+module.exports = createReactClass({
     displayName: 'Velociraptor',
 
     propTypes: {