diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/sip/4.x.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sip/4.x.nix
index 0e1db82e8af0..879dc6cd125a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/sip/4.x.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sip/4.x.nix
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   version = "4.19.25";
   format = "other";
 
-  disabled = isPyPy;
+  # relies on distutils
+  disabled = isPyPy || pythonAtLeast "3.12";
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://www.riverbankcomputing.com/static/Downloads/sip/${version}/sip-${version}.tar.gz";