diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/hamster/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/hamster/default.nix
index bdab5d71e9ef..e6e9fbea7722 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/hamster/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/hamster/default.nix
@@ -35,9 +35,12 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
     pygobject3
     pycairo
     pyxdg
+    setuptools
     dbus-python
   ];
 
+  PYTHONDIR = "${placeholder "out"}/${python3Packages.python.sitePackages}";
+
   dontWrapGApps = true;
 
   # Arguments to be passed to `makeWrapper`, only used by buildPython*