diff --git a/dist/debian/rules.in b/dist/debian/rules.in
index 58a95303c6..b71cbd109e 100755
--- a/dist/debian/rules.in
+++ b/dist/debian/rules.in
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/make -f
 
+export PYBUILD_DISABLE=install
+
 override_dh_auto_configure:
 	./configure.py --enable-dpdk --mode=release --static-thrift --static-boost --compiler=@@COMPILER@@ --cflags="-I/opt/scylladb/include -L/opt/scylladb/lib/x86-linux-gnu/" --ldflags="-Wl,-rpath=/opt/scylladb/lib"