diff --git a/docs/html/reference/build-system/pyproject-toml.md b/docs/html/reference/build-system/pyproject-toml.md
index a42a3b8c484..c1e7a68c597 100644
--- a/docs/html/reference/build-system/pyproject-toml.md
+++ b/docs/html/reference/build-system/pyproject-toml.md
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ section, it will be assumed to have the following backend settings:
 
 ```toml
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools>=40.8.0", "wheel"]
+requires = ["setuptools>=40.8.0"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta:__legacy__"
 ```
 
diff --git a/news/12449.bugfix.rst b/news/12449.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..19f1d9809ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/12449.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Removed ``wheel`` from the ``[build-system].requires`` list fallback
+that is used when ``pyproject.toml`` is absent.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/pyproject.py b/src/pip/_internal/pyproject.py
index eb8e12b2dec..8de36b873ed 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/pyproject.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/pyproject.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ def load_pyproject_toml(
         # a version of setuptools that supports that backend.
 
         build_system = {
-            "requires": ["setuptools>=40.8.0", "wheel"],
+            "requires": ["setuptools>=40.8.0"],
             "build-backend": "setuptools.build_meta:__legacy__",
         }