diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 920268e7a4ed77e66cbc615103cc1ca089a39604..95cb0b498030cee8d6bdc31ef445c9d35064fb15 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ jupyter-build:
     - virtualenv venv
     - source venv/bin/activate
     - pip install --upgrade pip
+    - pip install --upgrade setuptools # fix distutils problems?
     - pip install -r requirements.txt -v
     - alias python=python3  # for jb clean ...
     - jupyter-book clean .