diff --git a/devel/py-pymtbl/Makefile b/devel/py-pymtbl/Makefile
index 392e6810b820..6ba5714df0ff 100644
--- a/devel/py-pymtbl/Makefile
+++ b/devel/py-pymtbl/Makefile
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ CPPFLAGS+=	-I${LOCALBASE}/include
 
 OPTIONS_DEFINE=	EXAMPLES
 
-post-patch:
+pre-build:
 	cython-${PYTHON_VER} ${WRKSRC}/mtbl.pyx
 
 post-install: