diff --git a/tox.embedapi.ini b/tox.embedapi.ini
index 984331ccd49..f69afd31154 100644
--- a/tox.embedapi.ini
+++ b/tox.embedapi.ini
@@ -32,5 +32,6 @@ deps =
     jinja2<3.1.0
 setenv =
     DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=readthedocs.settings.test
+    VIRTUALENV_SETUPTOOLS=58.3.0
 changedir = {toxinidir}/readthedocs
 commands = pytest -m embed_api {posargs}
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 7d8d0b45249..d34f37c29d6 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ setenv =
     LANG=en_US.UTF-8
     LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
     DJANGO_SETTINGS_SKIP_LOCAL=True
+    VIRTUALENV_SETUPTOOLS=58.3.0
 passenv = CI TRAVIS TRAVIS_* HOME
 deps =
   -r requirements/testing.txt