diff --git a/news/11248.bugfix.rst b/news/11248.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c48146973
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/11248.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Use ``importlib.resources`` to read the ``vendor.txt`` file in ``pip debug``.
+This makes the command safe for use from a zipapp.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py
index 084d7fa98..6fad1fe89 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import importlib.resources
 import locale
 import logging
 import os
@@ -10,7 +11,6 @@ import pip._vendor
 from pip._vendor.certifi import where
 from pip._vendor.packaging.version import parse as parse_version
 
-from pip import __file__ as pip_location
 from pip._internal.cli import cmdoptions
 from pip._internal.cli.base_command import Command
 from pip._internal.cli.cmdoptions import make_target_python
@@ -35,11 +35,7 @@ def show_sys_implementation() -> None:
 
 
 def create_vendor_txt_map() -> Dict[str, str]:
-    vendor_txt_path = os.path.join(
-        os.path.dirname(pip_location), "_vendor", "vendor.txt"
-    )
-
-    with open(vendor_txt_path) as f:
+    with importlib.resources.open_text("pip._vendor", "vendor.txt") as f:
         # Purge non version specifying lines.
         # Also, remove any space prefix or suffixes (including comments).
         lines = [