diff --git a/dev-python/regex/regex-2019.11.1.ebuild b/dev-python/regex/regex-2019.11.1.ebuild
index 6b42bd5991f0a..5fb1e5270dade 100644
--- a/dev-python/regex/regex-2019.11.1.ebuild
+++ b/dev-python/regex/regex-2019.11.1.ebuild
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 EAPI=7
 
+DISTUTILS_USE_SETUPTOOLS=no
 PYTHON_COMPAT=( python{2_7,3_{5,6,7,8}} pypy{,3} )
 
 inherit distutils-r1 flag-o-matic