diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/elementpath/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/elementpath/default.nix
index 3b1ba73da2ad..79389d56fc70 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/elementpath/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/elementpath/default.nix
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , pythonOlder
+, setuptools
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "elementpath";
   version = "4.3.0";
-  format = "setuptools";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
@@ -18,6 +19,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     hash = "sha256-DE8XAZwYzbYaTJoBNqHR0x4Wigmke+/zgj562X391qM=";
   };
 
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    setuptools
+  ];
+
   # avoid circular dependency with xmlschema which directly depends on this
   doCheck = false;