diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index fe35edf..3f9a2bd 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ requires = [
     # TODO: can remove this once tailbone requires it
     'pyramid_retry',                    # 1.0
 
+    # TODO: remove cap for mysql-connector once we figure out what's up with that
+    'mysql-connector-python==8.0.17',
+
     'invoke',                           # 0.22.1
     'psycopg2',                         # 2.6.2
     'rattail[db]',                      # 0.9.86