diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 99bbb6bd5b3..40d7125ce20 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ install_manpages:
 
 .PHONY: sdist_check
 sdist_check:
+	$(PYTHON) -c 'import setuptools, sys; sys.exit(int(not (tuple(map(int, setuptools.__version__.split("."))) > (39, 2, 0))))'
 	$(PYTHON) packaging/sdist/check-link-behavior.py
 
 .PHONY: sdist