diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpcq/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpcq/default.nix
index 1289f10ed3c4..42643ca74826 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpcq/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpcq/default.nix
@@ -9,22 +9,32 @@
 , pythonOlder
 , pyzmq
 , ruamel-yaml
+, setuptools
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "rpcq";
   version = "3.10.0";
-  format = "setuptools";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.6";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "rigetti";
-    repo = pname;
+    repo = "rpcq";
     rev = "refs/tags/v${version}";
     hash = "sha256-J7jtGXJIF3jp0a0IQZmSR4TWf9D02Luau+Bupmi/d68=";
   };
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace setup.py \
+      --replace "msgpack>=0.6,<1.0" "msgpack"
+  '';
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    setuptools
+  ];
+
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
     msgpack
     python-rapidjson
@@ -38,14 +48,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     pytestCheckHook
   ];
 
-  postPatch = ''
-    substituteInPlace setup.py \
-      --replace "msgpack>=0.6,<1.0" "msgpack"
-  '';
-
-  disabledTests = [
-    # Test doesn't work properly on Hydra
-    "test_client_backlog"
+  pytestFlagsArray = [
+    # Don't run tests that spin-up a zmq server
+    "rpcq/test/test_base.py"
+    "rpcq/test/test_spec.py"
   ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [