diff --git a/dev-python/pywlroots/pywlroots-0.16.4.ebuild b/dev-python/pywlroots/pywlroots-0.16.4.ebuild
index 0a4cbf0dd114e..0c1aa65503b0b 100644
--- a/dev-python/pywlroots/pywlroots-0.16.4.ebuild
+++ b/dev-python/pywlroots/pywlroots-0.16.4.ebuild
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 EAPI=8
 
+DISTUTILS_EXT=1
 DISTUTILS_USE_PEP517=setuptools
 PYTHON_COMPAT=( python3_{9..11} )