diff --git a/gnu/packages/python-xyz.scm b/gnu/packages/python-xyz.scm
index 33ba4865f94..db3be465612 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/python-xyz.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/python-xyz.scm
@@ -17152,7 +17152,9 @@ printing of sub-tables by specifying a row range.")
     (description "This package is a simple RTF tokenizer.")
     (license license:gpl2+)))
 
-(define-public python-curio
+;; XXX: The package is not maintained anymore, and fails to build
+;; with the current python and pytest versions.
+(define-deprecated/public python-curio #f
   (package
     (name "python-curio")
     (version "1.6")