diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 70336c96e43..ee25ce845c9 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 
 import pkg_resources
-from setuptools import find_packages, setup
+from setuptools import Distribution, find_packages, setup
 
 from setupext import (
     check_for_openmp,
@@ -84,6 +84,16 @@
 # This overrides using lib_exts, so it has to happen after lib_exts is fully defined
 build_ext, sdist = create_build_ext(lib_exts, cythonize_aliases)
 
+# Force setuptools to consider that there are ext modules, even if empty.
+# See https://github.com/yt-project/yt/issues/2922 and
+# https://stackoverflow.com/a/62668026/2601223 for the fix.
+class BinaryDistribution(Distribution):
+    """Distribution which always forces a binary package with platform name."""
+
+    def has_ext_modules(self):
+        return True
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     setup(
         name="yt",
@@ -141,6 +151,7 @@
         license="BSD 3-Clause",
         zip_safe=False,
         scripts=["scripts/iyt"],
+        distclass=BinaryDistribution,
         ext_modules=[],  # !!! We override this inside build_ext above
         python_requires=">=3.6",
     )