diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ml-dtypes/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ml-dtypes/default.nix
index 5a6c426b2921..fb7f135e6462 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ml-dtypes/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ml-dtypes/default.nix
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     fetchSubmodules = true;
   };
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace pyproject.toml \
+      --replace-fail "setuptools~=" "setuptools>="
+  '';
+
   build-system = [ setuptools ];
 
   dependencies = [ numpy ];