diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index b968102b2..7981c90e9 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2376,7 +2376,7 @@ endif
 
 glib_conf.set('HAVE_PROC_SELF_CMDLINE', have_proc_self_cmdline)
 
-python = import('python').find_installation()
+python = import('python').find_installation(modules: ['packaging'])
 # used for '#!/usr/bin/env <name>'
 python_name = 'python3'