diff --git a/metagenomescope/tests/graph_objects/assembly_graph/test_node_scaling.py b/metagenomescope/tests/graph_objects/assembly_graph/test_node_scaling.py
index eed2d0e2..1ed5c84d 100644
--- a/metagenomescope/tests/graph_objects/assembly_graph/test_node_scaling.py
+++ b/metagenomescope/tests/graph_objects/assembly_graph/test_node_scaling.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def get_dims(rl, lp):
         area = config.MIN_NODE_AREA + (
             rl * (config.MAX_NODE_AREA - config.MIN_NODE_AREA)
         )
-        hgt = area ** lp
+        hgt = area**lp
         wid = area / hgt
         return (wid, hgt)
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def test_compute_node_dimensions_all_lengths_equal():
     default_area = config.MIN_NODE_AREA + (
         0.5 * (config.MAX_NODE_AREA - config.MIN_NODE_AREA)
     )
-    default_height = default_area ** config.MID_LONGSIDE_PROPORTION
+    default_height = default_area**config.MID_LONGSIDE_PROPORTION
     default_width = default_area / default_height
 
     # This double-checks that the defaults we expect here are computed
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 05e4bee1..746865cf 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -74,7 +74,12 @@
         "pyfastg",
         "jinja2",
     ],
-    extras_require={"dev": ["pytest", "pytest-cov", "flake8", "black"]},
+    # The reason I pin the black version to at least 22.1.0 is that this
+    # version changes how the ** operator is formatted (no surrounding spaces,
+    # usually). Not being consistent causes the build to fail, hence the pin.
+    extras_require={
+        "dev": ["pytest", "pytest-cov", "flake8", "black>=22.1.0"]
+    },
     entry_points={"console_scripts": ["mgsc=metagenomescope._cli:run_script"]},
     zip_safe=False,
 )