diff --git a/dev-python/snakeoil/snakeoil-9999.ebuild b/dev-python/snakeoil/snakeoil-9999.ebuild
index e6a030dcee73b..a2c4c4cf4928d 100644
--- a/dev-python/snakeoil/snakeoil-9999.ebuild
+++ b/dev-python/snakeoil/snakeoil-9999.ebuild
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 EAPI=8
 
-DISTUTILS_USE_PEP517=setuptools
+DISTUTILS_USE_PEP517=flit
 PYTHON_COMPAT=( python3_{8..11} pypy3 )
 PYTHON_REQ_USE="threads(+)"
 inherit distutils-r1
@@ -26,6 +26,4 @@ RDEPEND="
 	dev-python/lazy-object-proxy[${PYTHON_USEDEP}]
 "
 
-[[ ${PV} == 9999 ]] && BDEPEND+=" dev-python/cython[${PYTHON_USEDEP}]"
-
 distutils_enable_tests pytest