diff --git a/ci/setup_env.sh b/ci/setup_env.sh
index aa43d8b7dd00a..065f9e56ea171 100755
--- a/ci/setup_env.sh
+++ b/ci/setup_env.sh
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ python setup.py build_ext -q -i -j2
 # - py35_compat
 # - py36_32bit
 echo "[Updating pip]"
-python -m pip install --no-deps -U pip wheel setuptools
+python -m pip install --no-deps -U pip wheel "setuptools<50.0.0"
 
 echo "[Install pandas]"
 python -m pip install --no-build-isolation -e .