diff --git a/dev-python/mecab-python/mecab-python-0.996-r1.ebuild b/dev-python/mecab-python/mecab-python-0.996-r1.ebuild
index 50393940550ab..dfb4695da01d1 100644
--- a/dev-python/mecab-python/mecab-python-0.996-r1.ebuild
+++ b/dev-python/mecab-python/mecab-python-0.996-r1.ebuild
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 EAPI=8
 
+DISTUTILS_EXT=1
 DISTUTILS_USE_PEP517=setuptools
 PYTHON_COMPAT=( python3_{9..11} )