diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index baa37e5e..1ab93501 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ testing =
 	pytest >= 6
 	pytest-checkdocs >= 2.4
 	pytest-flake8
+	# workaround for tholo/pytest-flake8#87
+	flake8 < 5
 	pytest-black >= 0.3.7; \
 		# workaround for jaraco/skeleton#22
 		python_implementation != "PyPy"