diff --git a/.python-version b/.python-version
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bd28b9c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.python-version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.9
diff --git a/build-requirements.txt b/build-requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b26dcce8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+setuptools==65.5.1
+wheel
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index a5b586c5..b2b5f0ff 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@
 #
 #    pip-compile
 #
+
+# Required on Heroku to prevent build failures with legacy packages like django-allauth
+# Ensures build dependencies (e.g. setuptools, wheel) are installed before other packages
+-r build-requirements.txt
+
 boto3==1.16.26
     # via -r requirements.in
 botocore==1.19.26
diff --git a/runtime.txt b/runtime.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 815b82f7..00000000
--- a/runtime.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-python-3.9.18