diff --git a/packages/basemap/setup.py b/packages/basemap/setup.py
index e84e071b8..4e1cd52cd 100644
--- a/packages/basemap/setup.py
+++ b/packages/basemap/setup.py
@@ -207,9 +207,6 @@ def run(self):
         "maps",
         "plots",
     ],
-    "namespace_packages": [
-        "mpl_toolkits",
-    ],
     "package_dir":
         {"": "src"},
     "packages":
diff --git a/packages/basemap_data/setup.py b/packages/basemap_data/setup.py
index 9a5ad0343..dc50f9040 100644
--- a/packages/basemap_data/setup.py
+++ b/packages/basemap_data/setup.py
@@ -108,9 +108,6 @@ def get_content(name, splitlines=False):
         "maps",
         "plots",
     ],
-    "namespace_packages": [
-        "mpl_toolkits.basemap_data",
-    ],
     "package_dir":
         {"": "src"},
     "packages":
diff --git a/packages/basemap_data_hires/setup.py b/packages/basemap_data_hires/setup.py
index b36a0b11b..a841bf1d4 100644
--- a/packages/basemap_data_hires/setup.py
+++ b/packages/basemap_data_hires/setup.py
@@ -86,9 +86,6 @@ def get_content(name, splitlines=False):
         "maps",
         "plots",
     ],
-    "namespace_packages": [
-        "mpl_toolkits.basemap_data",
-    ],
     "package_dir":
         {"": "src"},
     "packages":