diff --git a/setup_build_server.sh b/setup_build_server.sh
index 65e1d7d..2adeb73 100755
--- a/setup_build_server.sh
+++ b/setup_build_server.sh
@@ -83,7 +83,12 @@ fi
 
 if [ -d "/tmp/nDPI/python" ]; then
     echo "==> Install nDPI Python bindings"
-    pip install /tmp/nDPI/python
+    # nDPI bindings currently fail with newer build backends on some hosts
+    # (e.g. metadata parsing errors such as "cannot parse PACK_ON").
+    pip install "setuptools<81" "packaging<25" wheel
+    if ! pip install --no-build-isolation /tmp/nDPI/python; then
+        echo "==> WARNING: nDPI Python bindings install failed, backend will run without DPI enrichment"
+    fi
 fi
 
 cd "$BACKEND_DIR"
@@ -226,7 +231,10 @@ npm run build
 cd $BACKEND_DIR
 source venv/bin/activate
 if [ -d "/tmp/nDPI/python" ]; then
-    pip install /tmp/nDPI/python
+    pip install "setuptools<81" "packaging<25" wheel
+    if ! pip install --no-build-isolation /tmp/nDPI/python; then
+        echo "WARNING: nDPI Python bindings install failed during runner build"
+    fi
 fi
 pip install -r requirements.txt
 deactivate