diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/cirq-ionq/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/cirq-ionq/default.nix
index 518334432441..8522bc23e0e3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/cirq-ionq/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/cirq-ionq/default.nix
@@ -13,13 +13,12 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   sourceRoot = "${src.name}/${pname}";
 
-  postPatch = ''
-    substituteInPlace requirements.txt \
-      --replace-fail "requests~=2.18" "requests"
-  '';
-
   build-system = [ setuptools ];
 
+  pythonRelaxDeps = [
+    "requests"
+  ];
+
   dependencies = [
     cirq-core
     requests