diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e06129a4bc..fe438c5d59 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 [build-system]
 # wheel to get more lightweight (not EASY-INSTALL) entry-points
-requires = ["wheel"]
+requires = ["setuptools>=40.8.0", "wheel"]