diff --git a/science/py-qcengine/Makefile b/science/py-qcengine/Makefile
index 483b22fa335d..dedebbf8da1d 100644
--- a/science/py-qcengine/Makefile
+++ b/science/py-qcengine/Makefile
@@ -1,46 +1,54 @@
 PORTNAME=	qcengine
-DISTVERSION=	0.50.0
+DISTVERSION=	0.51.0
 CATEGORIES=	science python # chemistry
 MASTER_SITES=	PYPI
 PKGNAMEPREFIX=	${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}
 
 MAINTAINER=	yuri@FreeBSD.org
 COMMENT=	Quantum chemistry program executor and IO standardizer (QCSchema)
 WWW=		https://github.com/MolSSI/QCEngine
 
 LICENSE=	BSD3CLAUSE
 LICENSE_FILE=	${WRKSRC}/LICENSE
 
-BUILD_DEPENDS=	${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}setuptools>=61.0:devel/py-setuptools@${PY_FLAVOR} \
+BUILD_DEPENDS=	${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}setuptools>=63.1.0:devel/py-setuptools@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}setuptools-scm>=8.0:devel/py-setuptools-scm@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}wheel>0:devel/py-wheel@${PY_FLAVOR}
 RUN_DEPENDS=	${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}py-cpuinfo>0:sysutils/py-py-cpuinfo@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}psutil>0:sysutils/py-psutil@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}pydantic2>=2.11:devel/py-pydantic2@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}pydantic-settings>0:devel/py-pydantic-settings@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}packaging>0:devel/py-packaging@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}qcelemental>=0.50.0:science/py-qcelemental@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}pyyaml>=0:devel/py-pyyaml@${PY_FLAVOR}
 TEST_DEPENDS=	${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}pytest>0:devel/py-pytest@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		dftd3:science/dftd3 \
 		dftd4:science/dftd4 \
 		mctc-gcp:science/gcp \
 		mopac:science/mopac \
 		mp2d:science/mp2d \
 		mrchem:science/py-mrchem@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		nwchem:science/nwchem \
 		psi4:science/psi4 \
 		rdkit>0:science/rdkit \
 		s-dftd3:science/simple-dftd3 \
 		xtb:science/xtb \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}dftd4>0:science/py-dftd4@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}msgpack>0:devel/py-msgpack@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}pyberny>0:science/py-pyberny@${PY_FLAVOR} \
 		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}geometric>0:science/py-geometric@${PY_FLAVOR}
 
 USES=		python
 USE_PYTHON=	pep517 concurrent autoplist pytest # 1 tests fails, see https://github.com/MolSSI/QCEngine/issues/377#issuecomment-2191948293
 
+TEST_ENV=	${MAKE_ENV} PYTHONPATH=${STAGEDIR}${PYTHONPREFIX_SITELIBDIR}
+TEST_ARGS=	--disable-plugin-autoload -m "not addon and not slow" \
+		--ignore=${STAGEDIR}${PYTHONPREFIX_SITELIBDIR}/qcengine/tests
+
+PYTEST_BROKEN_TESTS=	test_info # upstream issue: GCP version identification fails, see https://github.com/MolSSI/QCEngine/issues/377#issuecomment-2191948293
+
 NO_ARCH=	yes
 
+# tests as of 0.51.0: 100 passed, 3 skipped, 6217 deselected in 2.30s
+
 .include <bsd.port.mk>
diff --git a/science/py-qcengine/distinfo b/science/py-qcengine/distinfo
index 0f580c494c39..644f9eb1a034 100644
--- a/science/py-qcengine/distinfo
+++ b/science/py-qcengine/distinfo
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-TIMESTAMP = 1780383484
-SHA256 (qcengine-0.50.0.tar.gz) = c76d7c4aae103a8a93a5c48cf53cd0c9d8489fd2ed85f942b8d87f3f4b2d6665
-SIZE (qcengine-0.50.0.tar.gz) = 382578
+TIMESTAMP = 1789395240
+SHA256 (qcengine-0.51.0.tar.gz) = 23a122d132329585a8add8cd023d305c0c4c1f5032bf8a7ab22273e05d7c4c0d
+SIZE (qcengine-0.51.0.tar.gz) = 394272
diff --git a/science/py-qcengine/files/patch-pyproject.toml b/science/py-qcengine/files/patch-pyproject.toml
index 11eb6f31e385..2706a7a32097 100644
--- a/science/py-qcengine/files/patch-pyproject.toml
+++ b/science/py-qcengine/files/patch-pyproject.toml
@@ -1,21 +1,21 @@
 -- Remove license-files from [project] section and lower setuptools requirement
 -- Older setuptools (like 63.1.0 in FreeBSD) do not support license-files in [project]
 -- and we don't have setuptools 77.0 yet.
 
---- pyproject.toml.orig	2026-05-25 06:16:56 UTC
+--- pyproject.toml.orig	2026-09-14 15:29:21 UTC
 +++ pyproject.toml
 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
  [build-system]
 -requires = ["setuptools>=77.0", "setuptools-scm>=8.0"]
-+requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "setuptools-scm>=8.0"]
++requires = ["setuptools>=63.1.0", "setuptools-scm>=8.0"]
  build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
  
  [project.urls]
 @@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ authors = [
  authors = [
    { name="The QCArchive Development Team", email="qcarchive@molssi.org" },
  ]
 -license-files = ["LICENSE"]
  readme = "README.md"
  classifiers = [
      "Development Status :: 4 - Beta",