diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 0e8335954..38a3c86a5 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -27,3 +27,4 @@ include *.md
 include *.py
 include *.release
 include *.sh
+include _build/*.py
diff --git a/_build/backend.py b/_build/backend.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..11764a849
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_build/backend.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""
+In-tree build backend that programmatically adds mpi4py to the list of build dependencies if the
+underlying netCDF4 C library has parallel support enabled.
+"""
+
+from setuptools.build_meta import *
+
+import utils
+
+
+def get_requires_for_build_editable(config_settings=None):
+    return ["mpi4py>=3.1"] if utils.netcdf4_has_parallel_support() else []
+
+
+def get_requires_for_build_sdist(config_settings=None):
+    return ["mpi4py>=3.1"] if utils.netcdf4_has_parallel_support() else []
+
+
+def get_requires_for_build_wheel(config_settings=None):
+    return ["mpi4py>=3.1"] if utils.netcdf4_has_parallel_support() else []
diff --git a/_build/utils.py b/_build/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce7938144
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_build/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""
+This module contains a streamlined version of some utilities defined in `setup.py`, to be at
+disposal of in-tree build backends.
+"""
+
+import configparser
+import os
+import subprocess
+
+
+PROJECT_ROOT_DIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".."))
+OPEN_KWARGS = {"encoding": "utf-8"}
+
+
+def get_config_flags(command: list[str], flag: str) -> list[str]:
+    """Pull out specific flags from a config command (pkg-config or nc-config)"""
+    flags = subprocess.run(command, capture_output=True, text=True)
+    return [arg[2:] for arg in flags.stdout.split() if arg.startswith(flag)]
+
+
+def is_netcdf4_include_dir(inc_dir: str) -> bool:
+    try:
+        f = open(os.path.join(inc_dir, "netcdf.h"), **OPEN_KWARGS)
+    except OSError:
+        return False
+
+    for line in f:
+        if line.startswith("nc_inq_compound"):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+def get_netcdf4_include_dir():
+    netcdf4_dir = os.environ.get("NETCDF4_DIR")
+    netcdf4_incdir = os.environ.get("NETCDF4_INCDIR")
+
+    if bool(int(os.environ.get("USE_SETUPCFG", 1))) and os.path.exists(
+        setup_cfg := os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT_DIR, "setup.cfg")
+    ):
+        config = configparser.ConfigParser()
+        config.read(setup_cfg)
+
+        netcdf4_dir = config.get("directories", "NETCDF4_DIR", fallback=netcdf4_dir)
+        netcdf4_incdir = config.get(
+            "directories", "NETCDF4_INCDIR", fallback=netcdf4_incdir
+        )
+
+        # make sure USE_NCCONFIG from environment takes precedence over use_ncconfig from setup.cfg
+        #  (issue #341)
+        if "USE_NCCONFIG" in os.environ:
+            use_ncconfig = bool(int(os.environ.get("USE_NCCONFIG", 0)))
+        else:
+            use_ncconfig = config.getboolean("options", "use_ncconfig", fallback=None)
+
+        ncconfig = config.get("options", "ncconfig", fallback=None)
+    else:
+        use_ncconfig = None
+        ncconfig = None
+
+    try:
+        if ncconfig is None:
+            if netcdf4_dir is not None:
+                ncconfig = os.path.join(netcdf4_dir, "bin", "nc-config")
+            else:  # otherwise, just hope it's in the users PATH
+                ncconfig = "nc-config"
+        has_ncconfig = subprocess.call([ncconfig, "--libs"]) == 0
+    except OSError:
+        has_ncconfig = False
+
+    # if nc-config exists, and use_ncconfig not set, try to use it
+    if use_ncconfig is None and has_ncconfig:
+        use_ncconfig = has_ncconfig
+
+    dirs_to_search = []
+    if os.environ.get("CONDA_PREFIX"):
+        dirs_to_search.append(os.environ["CONDA_PREFIX"])  # linux,macosx
+        dirs_to_search.append(
+            os.path.join(os.environ["CONDA_PREFIX"], "Library")
+        )  # windows
+    dirs_to_search += [
+        os.path.expanduser("~"),
+        "/usr/local",
+        "/sw",
+        "/opt",
+        "/opt/local",
+        "/opt/homebrew",
+        "/usr",
+    ]
+
+    if netcdf4_incdir is None and netcdf4_dir is None:
+        if use_ncconfig and has_ncconfig:
+            inc_dirs = get_config_flags([ncconfig, "--cflags"], "-I")
+        else:
+            inc_dirs = [os.path.join(dir_, "include") for dir_ in dirs_to_search]
+
+        for inc_dir in inc_dirs:
+            if is_netcdf4_include_dir(inc_dir):
+                netcdf4_incdir = inc_dir
+                break
+
+        if netcdf4_incdir is None:
+            raise ValueError("Did not find netCDF version 4 headers.")
+    else:
+        if netcdf4_incdir is None:
+            netcdf4_incdir = os.path.join(netcdf4_dir, "include")
+        if not is_netcdf4_include_dir(netcdf4_incdir):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Did not find netCDF version 4 headers under `{netcdf4_incdir}`."
+            )
+
+    return netcdf4_incdir
+
+
+def netcdf4_has_parallel_support() -> bool:
+    netcdf4_incdir = get_netcdf4_include_dir()
+    if os.path.exists(ncmetapath := os.path.join(netcdf4_incdir, "netcdf_meta.h")):
+        with open(ncmetapath) as f:
+            for line in f:
+                if line.startswith("#define NC_HAS_PARALLEL"):
+                    try:
+                        return bool(int(line.split()[2]))
+                    except ValueError:
+                        pass
+            return False
+    else:
+        return False
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 7702b8ef4..fc2d049b0 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ requires = [
     "setuptools>=77.0.1",
     "setuptools_scm[toml]>=3.4",
 ]
-build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+build-backend = "backend"
+backend-path = ["_build"]
 
 [project]
 name = "netCDF4"
@@ -134,6 +135,7 @@ delocate-wheel --require-archs {delocate_archs} -w {dest_dir} -v {wheel} \
 
 [tool.cibuildwheel.windows]
 before-build = "python -m pip install delvewheel"
+environment = "PATH=$PATH:$CONDA_PREFIX/bin"
 repair-wheel-command = [
   "delvewheel show --include blosc.dll;zstd.dll;lz4.dll {wheel}",
   "delvewheel repair --include blosc.dll;zstd.dll;lz4.dll -w {dest_dir} {wheel}",
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 8c0242307..c3b934606 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -417,17 +417,18 @@ def _populate_hdf5_info(dirstosearch, inc_dirs, libs, lib_dirs):
     print(f"netcdf lib {has_has_not} parallel functions")
 
     if has_parallel_support:
+        # note(stubbiali): mpi4py is not available when using the in-tree build backend
         try:
             import mpi4py
         except ImportError:
-            msg = "Parallel support requires mpi4py but it is not installed."
-            raise ImportError(msg)
-
-        inc_dirs.append(mpi4py.get_include())
-        # mpi_incdir should not be needed if using nc-config
-        # (should be included in nc-config --cflags)
-        if mpi_incdir is not None:
-            inc_dirs.append(mpi_incdir)
+            mpi4py = None
+
+        if mpi4py is not None:
+            inc_dirs.append(mpi4py.get_include())
+            # mpi_incdir should not be needed if using nc-config
+            # (should be included in nc-config --cflags)
+            if mpi_incdir is not None:
+                inc_dirs.append(mpi_incdir)
 
         # Name of file containing imports required for parallel support
         parallel_support_imports = "parallel_support_imports.pxi.in"