diff --git a/packages/files/setup.cfg b/packages/files/setup.cfg
index 00aeea918b0..3773e5acd12 100644
--- a/packages/files/setup.cfg
+++ b/packages/files/setup.cfg
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ include_package_data = True
 install_requires =
     galaxy-util[config-template,template]
     fs
+    setuptools<82  # TODO: remove once pyfilesystem2 drops pkg_resources (https://github.com/PyFilesystem/pyfilesystem2/issues/597)
     pydantic>=2.7.4
     typing-extensions
     fsspec