diff --git a/bob/devtools/data/conda_build_config.yaml b/bob/devtools/data/conda_build_config.yaml
index 9ca48020ca3f51fc53b045dec1e094807ff1f79b..6cae8f4467afd351f62295d79797db593b0a7c4b 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/data/conda_build_config.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/data/conda_build_config.yaml
@@ -385,6 +385,8 @@ pandas:
   - 1.3.3
 pillow:
   - 8.3.2
+pip:
+  - 21.2.4
 pkg_config:
   - 0.29.2
 psutil:
diff --git a/bob/devtools/templates/conda/meta.yaml b/bob/devtools/templates/conda/meta.yaml
index 3beccf72454e2acafda97f6a733ce9d2615ef5b9..b13c27a753b2280b3cdbbcae099a9b35ef78eb18 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/templates/conda/meta.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/templates/conda/meta.yaml
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ build:
   script:
     - cd {{ project_dir }}
     {% if environ.get('BUILD_EGG') %}
-    - python setup.py sdist --formats=zip
+    - "{{ PYTHON }} setup.py sdist --formats=zip"
     {% endif %}
-    - python setup.py install --single-version-externally-managed --record record.txt
+    - "{{ PYTHON }} -m pip install . -vv"
     # installs the documentation source, readme to share/doc so it is available
     # during test time
     - install -d "${PREFIX}/share/doc/{{ name }}"
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ requirements:
   host:
     - python {{ python }}
     - setuptools {{ setuptools }}
+    - pip {{ pip }}
     - bob.extension
     # place your other host dependencies here (same as requirements.txt)
     # use the format:
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ test:
   imports:
     - {{ name }}
   commands:
+    - pip check
     # runs tests for package only, report only what is in the package
     # creates html and xml reports and place them in specific directories
     - pytest --verbose --cov {{ name }} --cov-report term-missing --cov-report html:{{ project_dir }}/sphinx/coverage --cov-report xml:{{ project_dir }}/coverage.xml --pyargs {{ name }}
@@ -55,6 +57,7 @@ test:
     - conda inspect linkages -p $PREFIX {{ name }}  # [not win]
     - conda inspect objects -p $PREFIX {{ name }}  # [osx]
   requires:
+    - pip {{ pip }}
     - pytest {{ pytest }}
     - pytest-cov {{ pytest_cov }}
     - coverage {{ coverage }}