diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6c571e77d..76e17cead 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -99,7 +99,9 @@ dependencies = [
     "av",
     "typer",
     "ijson",
-    "scikit-learn>=1.4.1"
+    "scikit-learn>=1.4.1",
+    # everything that is a torch extension will need setuptools, so just include it
+    "setuptools",
 ]
 
 [build-system]