diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow-simd/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow-simd/default.nix
index 4573e25a22b23..ca0d947d37b1c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow-simd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow-simd/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 { lib, stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchFromGitHub, isPyPy, isPy3k
 , olefile, freetype, libjpeg, zlib, libtiff, libwebp, libxcrypt, tcl, lcms2
 , libxcb, tk, libX11, openjpeg, libimagequant, pyroma, numpy, defusedxml
-, pytestCheckHook
+, pytestCheckHook, setuptools
 }@args:
 
 import ../pillow/generic.nix (rec {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/default.nix
index f1489e1f458d2..d7edcc18d0ae2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 , fetchpatch
 , isPyPy
 , defusedxml, olefile, freetype, libjpeg, zlib, libtiff, libwebp, libxcrypt, tcl, lcms2, tk, libX11
-, libxcb, openjpeg, libimagequant, pyroma, numpy, pytestCheckHook
+, libxcb, openjpeg, libimagequant, pyroma, numpy, pytestCheckHook, setuptools
 # for passthru.tests
 , imageio, matplotlib, pilkit, pydicom, reportlab
 }@args:
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/generic.nix
index 95ecce0522c34..5186e8a476bb3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pillow/generic.nix
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [ pytestCheckHook pyroma numpy ];
 
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ setuptools ];
+
   buildInputs = [ freetype libjpeg openjpeg libimagequant zlib libtiff libwebp libxcrypt tcl lcms2 ]
     ++ lib.optionals (lib.versionAtLeast version "7.1.0") [ libxcb ]
     ++ lib.optionals (isPyPy) [ tk libX11 ];