diff --git a/requirements/requirements-testing.txt b/requirements/requirements-testing.txt
index b1e3c82ec..a3821a508 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements-testing.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements-testing.txt
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ importlib-metadata<5.0
 # temporary pin of attrs
 attrs==22.1.0
 pytz  # Remove when dropping support for Django<5.0
+setuptools>=77.0.3
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index cbaaf159e..01a959455 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ deps =
         djangomain: https://github.com/django/django/archive/main.tar.gz
         -rrequirements/requirements-testing.txt
         -rrequirements/requirements-optionals.txt
-        setuptools
 
 [testenv:base]
 ; Ensure optional dependencies are not required