diff --git a/build/pkgs/ipympl/dependencies b/build/pkgs/ipympl/dependencies
index 14f7577b4ad..56687b4dda0 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/ipympl/dependencies
+++ b/build/pkgs/ipympl/dependencies
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-$(PYTHON) | $(PYTHON_TOOLCHAIN) ipywidgets matplotlib ipykernel
+$(PYTHON) | $(PYTHON_TOOLCHAIN) ipywidgets matplotlib ipykernel jupyter_packaging $(findstring jupyterlab,$(OPTIONAL_INSTALLED_PACKAGES))
 
 ----------
 All lines of this file are ignored except the first.
+
+jupyterlab is listed as a "build-system requires", but the package installs correctly without it.