Index: setuptools-69.0.2/setuptools/_distutils/command/install_lib.py
===================================================================
--- setuptools-69.0.2.orig/setuptools/_distutils/command/install_lib.py
+++ setuptools-69.0.2/setuptools/_distutils/command/install_lib.py
@@ -133,6 +133,12 @@ class install_lib(Command):
         # should at least generate usable bytecode in RPM distributions.
         install_root = self.get_finalized_command('install').root
 
+        # UGLY HACK WARNING. Indirect compilation requires distutils, which
+        # means Python 3.11 or less. If and only if an environment variable
+        # is set, do we force direct compilation.
+        # See also https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/4164
+        direct = os.environ.get('SETUPTOOLS_FORCE_DIRECT', None)
+
         if self.compile:
             byte_compile(
                 files,
@@ -140,6 +146,7 @@ class install_lib(Command):
                 force=self.force,
                 prefix=install_root,
                 dry_run=self.dry_run,
+                direct=direct,
             )
         if self.optimize > 0:
             byte_compile(
@@ -149,6 +156,7 @@ class install_lib(Command):
                 prefix=install_root,
                 verbose=self.verbose,
                 dry_run=self.dry_run,
+                direct=direct,
             )
 
     # -- Utility methods -----------------------------------------------