diff --git a/.github/workflows/msvc-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/msvc-ci.yml
index 22f22fc0b..a314e0ff2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/msvc-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/msvc-ci.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1
         with:
           arch : ${{ matrix.ARCH }}
+      # https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/issues/9955#issuecomment-1030843844
+      - name: Downgrade pip
+        run: |
+          python -m pip install -U pip==21.3.1
       - name: Install Dependencies
         run: |
           pip install --upgrade meson ninja fonttools