diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 816611e..b14fac6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ requires-python = ">=3.9"
 dependencies = [
     "numpy",
     "cffi",
+    "setuptools",
     "scipy"
 ]
 [project.urls]
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 24ab5f0..709bff4 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
     url="https://xsuite.readthedocs.io/",
     python_requires=">=3.7",
     setup_requires=[],
-    install_requires=["numpy", "cffi", "scipy"],
+    install_requires=["numpy", "cffi", "setuptools", "scipy"],
     packages=["xobjects"],
     license="Apache 2.0",
     download_url="https://pypi.python.org/pypi/xobjects",