diff --git a/python3.13.spec b/python3.13.spec
index dd4b3f5..546cae4 100644
--- a/python3.13.spec
+++ b/python3.13.spec
@@ -806,6 +806,8 @@ rm -r Modules/_decimal/libmpdec
 # (This is after patching, so that we can use patches directly from upstream)
 rm configure pyconfig.h.in
 
+# Lower the minimal required version of autoconf to enable build for EPEL 9
+sed -i "s/AC_PREREQ(\[2\.71\])/AC_PREREQ([2.69])/" configure.ac
 
 # ======================================================
 # Configuring and building the code: