diff --git a/dev-python/xlutils/xlutils-2.0.0-r1.ebuild b/dev-python/xlutils/xlutils-2.0.0-r1.ebuild
index 9d2dc3f3532b5..a94bad5e598f5 100644
--- a/dev-python/xlutils/xlutils-2.0.0-r1.ebuild
+++ b/dev-python/xlutils/xlutils-2.0.0-r1.ebuild
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 EAPI=7
 
+DISTUTILS_USE_SETUPTOOLS=rdepend
 PYTHON_COMPAT=( python3_{6,7} )
 
 inherit distutils-r1