diff --git a/science/py-qcengine/Makefile b/science/py-qcengine/Makefile
index b52185255728..483b22fa335d 100644
--- a/science/py-qcengine/Makefile
+++ b/science/py-qcengine/Makefile
@@ -1,43 +1,46 @@
 PORTNAME=	qcengine
-DISTVERSION=	0.30.0
-PORTREVISION=	5
+DISTVERSION=	0.50.0
 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} \
+		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}setuptools-scm>=8.0:devel/py-setuptools-scm@${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} \
-		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}pydantic2>=1.8.2:devel/py-pydantic2@${PY_FLAVOR} \
-		${PYTHON_PKGNAMEPREFIX}qcelemental>=0.24.0:science/py-qcelemental@${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}
-		# last dependencies above are for specific quantum chemistry packages to test with TODO torchani,openmm,torsiondrive,mdi
 
 USES=		python
-USE_PYTHON=	distutils concurrent autoplist pytest # 1 tests fails, see https://github.com/MolSSI/QCEngine/issues/377#issuecomment-2191948293
+USE_PYTHON=	pep517 concurrent autoplist pytest # 1 tests fails, see https://github.com/MolSSI/QCEngine/issues/377#issuecomment-2191948293
 
 NO_ARCH=	yes
 
 .include <bsd.port.mk>
diff --git a/science/py-qcengine/distinfo b/science/py-qcengine/distinfo
index 845551d558cd..0f580c494c39 100644
--- a/science/py-qcengine/distinfo
+++ b/science/py-qcengine/distinfo
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-TIMESTAMP = 1719394490
-SHA256 (qcengine-0.30.0.tar.gz) = ba62d34dbcf487e8368f6c19762a19e1c5f06af7e705f6c583c0632b35bccf7d
-SIZE (qcengine-0.30.0.tar.gz) = 308199
+TIMESTAMP = 1780383484
+SHA256 (qcengine-0.50.0.tar.gz) = c76d7c4aae103a8a93a5c48cf53cd0c9d8489fd2ed85f942b8d87f3f4b2d6665
+SIZE (qcengine-0.50.0.tar.gz) = 382578
diff --git a/science/py-qcengine/files/patch-pyproject.toml b/science/py-qcengine/files/patch-pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..11eb6f31e385
--- /dev/null
+++ b/science/py-qcengine/files/patch-pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +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
+@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
+ [build-system]
+-requires = ["setuptools>=77.0", "setuptools-scm>=8.0"]
++requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "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",