diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 2b07de0..2727fcd 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ setup(
             # https://black.readthedocs.io/en/stable/the_black_code_style/index.html#stability-policy
             'black>=24.3.0,<25.0.0',
             'build>=0.7.0',
+            # docutils 0.21.x bumped to >=3.9 and 3.8 is still active. we'll
+            # have to clamp it down until we remove 3.8
+            'docutils<=0.20.1',
             'isort>=5.11.5',
             'pycountry>=19.8.18',
             'pycountry-convert>=0.7.2',