diff --git a/dev-python/pygame/files/pygame-2.1.2-cython_only.patch b/dev-python/pygame/files/pygame-2.1.2-cython_only.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4fb935dcf6688
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-python/pygame/files/pygame-2.1.2-cython_only.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+Backport to ease running cythonize, DISTUTILS_ARGS=(cython) resulted in
+reconfigure attempts that failed without PORTMIDI* being exported.
+
+https://github.com/pygame/pygame/commit/4eeffc049cf
+From: Ankith <46915066+ankith26@users.noreply.github.com>
+Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2022 21:27:57 +0530
+Subject: [PATCH] Add cython_only option to setup.py
+--- a/setup.py
++++ b/setup.py
+@@ -209,7 +209,16 @@ def consume_arg(name):
+     cflags += '-mfpu=neon'
+     os.environ['CFLAGS'] = cflags
+ 
++compile_cython = False
++cython_only = False
+ if consume_arg('cython'):
++    compile_cython = True
++
++if consume_arg('cython_only'):
++    compile_cython = True
++    cython_only = True
++
++if compile_cython:
+     # compile .pyx files
+     # So you can `setup.py cython` or `setup.py cython install`
+     try:
+@@ -280,6 +289,9 @@ def consume_arg(name):
+     for i, kwargs in enumerate(queue):
+         kwargs['progress'] = f'[{i + 1}/{count}] '
+         cythonize_one(**kwargs)
++    
++    if cython_only:
++        sys.exit(0)
+ 
+ no_compilation = any(x in ['lint', 'format', 'docs'] for x in sys.argv)
+ AUTO_CONFIG = not os.path.isfile('Setup') and not no_compilation
diff --git a/dev-python/pygame/pygame-2.1.2-r2.ebuild b/dev-python/pygame/pygame-2.1.2-r2.ebuild
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c6f10a469b756
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-python/pygame/pygame-2.1.2-r2.ebuild
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+# Copyright 1999-2023 Gentoo Authors
+# Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
+
+EAPI=8
+
+DISTUTILS_USE_PEP517=setuptools
+PYTHON_COMPAT=( python3_{9..11} )
+
+inherit distutils-r1
+
+DESCRIPTION="Python bindings for SDL multimedia library"
+HOMEPAGE="https://www.pygame.org/"
+SRC_URI="
+	https://github.com/pygame/pygame/archive/${PV}.tar.gz -> ${P}.gh.tar.gz"
+
+LICENSE="LGPL-2.1"
+SLOT="0"
+KEYWORDS="~alpha ~amd64 ~arm ~arm64 ~hppa ~ia64 ~ppc ~ppc64 ~riscv ~sparc ~x86"
+IUSE="examples midi opengl test X"
+RESTRICT="!test? ( test )"
+
+RDEPEND="
+	dev-python/numpy[${PYTHON_USEDEP}]
+	media-libs/freetype
+	media-libs/libjpeg-turbo:=
+	media-libs/libpng:=
+	media-libs/sdl2-image
+	media-libs/sdl2-mixer
+	media-libs/sdl2-ttf
+	midi? ( media-libs/portmidi )
+	X? ( media-libs/libsdl2[opengl?,threads,video,X] )
+	!X? ( media-libs/libsdl2[threads] )"
+DEPEND="
+	${RDEPEND}
+	test? (
+		media-libs/sdl2-image[gif,jpeg,png,tiff,webp]
+		media-libs/sdl2-mixer[mp3,vorbis,wav]
+	)"
+# fontconfig used for fc-list
+RDEPEND+="
+	media-libs/fontconfig"
+# util-linux provides script
+BDEPEND="
+	dev-python/cython[${PYTHON_USEDEP}]
+	test? (
+		media-libs/fontconfig
+		sys-apps/util-linux
+	)"
+
+PATCHES=(
+	"${FILESDIR}"/${P}-libsdl2-2.26-tests.patch
+	"${FILESDIR}"/${P}-cython_only.patch
+)
+
+src_prepare() {
+	distutils-r1_src_prepare
+
+	if ! use midi; then
+		rm test/midi_test.py || die
+	fi
+}
+
+python_configure() {
+	PORTMIDI_INC_PORTTIME=1 LOCALBASE="${EPREFIX}/usr" \
+		"${EPYTHON}" "${S}"/buildconfig/config.py -auto || die
+
+	# Disable automagic dependency on PortMidi.
+	if ! use midi; then
+		sed -e "s:^pypm :#&:" -i Setup || die
+	fi
+}
+
+python_configure_all() {
+	find src_c/cython -name '*.pyx' -exec touch {} + || die
+	"${EPYTHON}" setup.py cython_only || die
+}
+
+python_test() {
+	local -x PYTHONPATH=${BUILD_DIR}/install/lib
+	local -x SDL_VIDEODRIVER=dummy
+	local -x SDL_AUDIODRIVER=disk
+	script -eqc "${EPYTHON} -m pygame.tests -v" || die
+}
+
+python_install() {
+	distutils-r1_python_install
+
+	# Bug #497720
+	rm -fr "${D}$(python_get_sitedir)"/pygame/{docs,examples,tests}/ || die
+}
+
+python_install_all() {
+	distutils-r1_python_install_all
+	use examples && dodoc -r examples
+}