diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index eed77ff4dbb7c0ae3be3907c5c59c5f144a7a476..453c205228469680f025bab9346eb510dce74892 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ build-job:
     - pwd
     - ls -lisah
     - git config --global url."https://gitlab.pik-potsdam.de/".insteadOf "ssh://git@gitlab.pik-potsdam.de/"
+    - pip install setuptools
     - pip install -r requirements.txt
     - pip install -r requirements_dev.txt