diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 0e8335954..1bf4b3346 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -27,3 +27,5 @@ include *.md
 include *.py
 include *.release
 include *.sh
+include LICENSE
+include _build/*.py
diff --git a/_build/backend.py b/_build/backend.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd05c2b3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_build/backend.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+import logging
+import os
+from setuptools.build_meta import *
+import subprocess
+
+
+fmt = logging.Formatter("\n=== NETCDF4 BUILD DEBUG: %(message)s\n")
+hdlr = logging.StreamHandler()
+hdlr.setFormatter(fmt)
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+log.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+log.addHandler(hdlr)
+
+
+def netcdf_has_parallel_support():
+    netcdf4_dir = os.environ.get("NETCDF4_DIR")
+    ncconfig = (
+        os.path.join(netcdf4_dir, "bin", "nc-config") if netcdf4_dir else "nc-config"
+    )
+    log.debug(f"{ncconfig = }")
+    process = subprocess.run([ncconfig, "--has-parallel4"], capture_output=True)
+    out = process.stdout.decode("utf-8").rstrip()
+    return out == "yes"
+
+
+def get_requires_for_build_editable(config_settings=None):
+    return ["mpi4py>=3.1"] if netcdf_has_parallel_support() else []
+
+
+def get_requires_for_build_wheel(config_settings=None):
+    return ["mpi4py>=3.1"] if netcdf_has_parallel_support() else []
+
+
+def get_requires_for_build_sdist(config_settings=None):
+    return ["mpi4py>=3.1"] if netcdf_has_parallel_support() else []
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 653c7960f..2605ce84c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ requires = [
     "setuptools>=77.0.1",
     "setuptools_scm[toml]>=3.4",
 ]
-build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+build-backend = "backend"
+backend-path = ["_build"]
 
 [project]
 name = "netCDF4"
@@ -139,6 +140,7 @@ environment = {MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET="14.0"}
 
 [tool.cibuildwheel.windows]
 before-build = "python -m pip install delvewheel"
+environment = "PATH=$PATH:$CONDA_PREFIX/bin"
 repair-wheel-command = [
   "delvewheel show {wheel}",
   "delvewheel repair -w {dest_dir} {wheel}",