diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pydocumentdb/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pydocumentdb/default.nix
index f2e57274458..659997d7158 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pydocumentdb/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pydocumentdb/default.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     sha256 = "1e6f072ae516fc061c9442f8ca470463b53dc626f0f6a86ff3a803293f4b50dd";
   };
 
+  # https://github.com/Azure/azure-cosmos-python/issues/183
+  preBuild = ''
+    touch changelog.md
+  '';
+
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ six requests ];
 
   # requires an active Azure Cosmos service