Merge pull request #8180 from sbidoul/wheel-absent-warning-sbi

news/8178.bugfix

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Avoid unnecessary message about the wheel package not being installed
+when a wheel would not have been built. Additionally, clarify the message.

src/pip/_internal/wheel_builder.py

@@ -69,14 +69,6 @@ def _should_build(
     # From this point, this concerns the pip install command only
     # (need_wheel=False).
 
-    if not req.use_pep517 and not is_wheel_installed():
-        # we don't build legacy requirements if wheel is not installed
-        logger.info(
-            "Could not build wheels for %s, "
-            "since package 'wheel' is not installed.", req.name,
-        )
-        return False
-
     if req.editable or not req.source_dir:
         return False
 
@@ -87,6 +79,14 @@ def _should_build(
         )
         return False
 
+    if not req.use_pep517 and not is_wheel_installed():
+        # we don't build legacy requirements if wheel is not installed
+        logger.info(
+            "Using legacy setup.py install for %s, "
+            "since package 'wheel' is not installed.", req.name,
+        )
+        return False
+
     return True