diff --git a/packages/addons/tools/system-tools/package.mk b/packages/addons/tools/system-tools/package.mk
index 5a5de5f11b..b0134986e9 100644
--- a/packages/addons/tools/system-tools/package.mk
+++ b/packages/addons/tools/system-tools/package.mk
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ addon() {
 
     # i2c-tools
     cp -P $(get_install_dir i2c-tools)/usr/sbin/{i2cdetect,i2cdump,i2cget,i2cset} ${ADDON_BUILD}/${PKG_ADDON_ID}/bin
-    cp -P $(get_install_dir i2c-tools)/usr/lib/${PKG_PYTHON_VERSION}/site-packages/smbus.so ${ADDON_BUILD}/${PKG_ADDON_ID}/lib
+    cp -P $(get_install_dir i2c-tools)/usr/lib/${PKG_PYTHON_VERSION}/site-packages/smbus-*.egg ${ADDON_BUILD}/${PKG_ADDON_ID}/lib
     cp -P $(get_install_dir i2c-tools)/usr/lib/libi2c.so.0.1.1 ${ADDON_BUILD}/${PKG_ADDON_ID}/lib/libi2c.so
     cp -P $(get_install_dir i2c-tools)/usr/lib/libi2c.so.0.1.1 ${ADDON_BUILD}/${PKG_ADDON_ID}/lib/libi2c.so.0
     cp -P $(get_install_dir i2c-tools)/usr/lib/libi2c.so.0.1.1 ${ADDON_BUILD}/${PKG_ADDON_ID}/lib/libi2c.so.0.1.1
diff --git a/packages/lang/Python3/package.mk b/packages/lang/Python3/package.mk
index a8f65a935a..f078d5293c 100644
--- a/packages/lang/Python3/package.mk
+++ b/packages/lang/Python3/package.mk
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ PKG_CONFIGURE_OPTS_HOST="ac_cv_prog_HAS_HG=/bin/false
                          --with-doc-strings
                          --with-system-ffi
                          --without-pymalloc
-                         --without-ensurepip
+                         --with-ensurepip=no
 "
 
 PKG_CONFIGURE_OPTS_TARGET="ac_cv_prog_HAS_HG=/bin/false
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ pre_configure_host() {
   export PYTHON_MODULES_INCLUDE="${HOST_INCDIR}"
   export PYTHON_MODULES_LIB="${HOST_LIBDIR}"
   export DISABLED_EXTENSIONS="readline _curses _curses_panel ${PKG_PY_DISABLED_MODULES}"
+  # control patch Python3-0300-generate-legacy-pyc-bytecode
+  # this needs to be set when building host based py file
+  # do not set this for py compiles being done for target use
+  export DONT_BUILD_LEGACY_PYC=1
 }
 
 post_make_host() {
@@ -99,8 +103,9 @@ post_make_host() {
 post_makeinstall_host() {
   ln -sf ${PKG_PYTHON_VERSION} ${TOOLCHAIN}/bin/python
 
+  ${TOOLCHAIN}/bin/python -m ensurepip --altinstall
+
   rm -f ${TOOLCHAIN}/bin/smtpd.py*
-  rm -f ${TOOLCHAIN}/bin/pyvenv
   rm -f ${TOOLCHAIN}/bin/pydoc*
 
   rm -fr ${PKG_BUILD}/.${HOST_NAME}/build/temp.*
diff --git a/packages/lang/Python3/patches/Python3-0300-generate-legacy-pyc-bytecode.patch b/packages/lang/Python3/patches/Python3-0300-generate-legacy-pyc-bytecode.patch
index b4cc4ba3a9..37c9e8d82c 100644
--- a/packages/lang/Python3/patches/Python3-0300-generate-legacy-pyc-bytecode.patch
+++ b/packages/lang/Python3/patches/Python3-0300-generate-legacy-pyc-bytecode.patch
@@ -19,18 +19,19 @@ generates legacy bytecode.
 
 https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3147/#case-4-legacy-pyc-files-and-source-less-imports
 ---
- Lib/py_compile.py | 4 ++++
- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)
+ Lib/py_compile.py | 5 +++++
+ 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)
 
 --- a/Lib/py_compile.py
 +++ b/Lib/py_compile.py
-@@ -121,6 +121,10 @@ def compile(file, cfile=None, dfile=None
+@@ -121,6 +121,11 @@ def compile(file, cfile=None, dfile=None
      the resulting file would be regular and thus not the same type of file as
      it was previously.
      """
 +
-+    if cfile:
-+      cfile = file + 'c'
++    if os.environ.get('DONT_BUILD_LEGACY_PYC') is None:
++        if cfile:
++            cfile = file + 'c'
 +
      if invalidation_mode is None:
          invalidation_mode = _get_default_invalidation_mode()
diff --git a/packages/python/devel/Jinja2/package.mk b/packages/python/devel/Jinja2/package.mk
index da418455ff..d3a47c7ade 100644
--- a/packages/python/devel/Jinja2/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/devel/Jinja2/package.mk
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@ PKG_SHA256="31351a702a408a9e7595a8fc6150fc3f43bb6bf7e319770cbc0db9df9437e852"
 PKG_LICENSE="BSD"
 PKG_SITE="https://pypi.org/project/Jinja2/"
 PKG_URL="https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/${PKG_NAME:0:1}/${PKG_NAME}/${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}.tar.gz"
-PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host setuptools:host MarkupSafe:host"
+PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host MarkupSafe:host"
 PKG_LONGDESC="Jinja is a fast, expressive, extensible templating engine."
 PKG_TOOLCHAIN="manual"
 
 makeinstall_host() {
+  export DONT_BUILD_LEGACY_PYC=1
   exec_thread_safe python3 setup.py install --prefix=${TOOLCHAIN}
 }
diff --git a/packages/python/devel/Mako/package.mk b/packages/python/devel/Mako/package.mk
index ff5f4b3080..b322931282 100644
--- a/packages/python/devel/Mako/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/devel/Mako/package.mk
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ PKG_SHA256="d60a3903dc3bb01a18ad6a89cdbe2e4eadc69c0bc8ef1e3773ba53d44c3f7a34"
 PKG_LICENSE="GPL"
 PKG_SITE="https://pypi.org/project/Mako"
 PKG_URL="https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/${PKG_NAME:0:1}/${PKG_NAME}/${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}.tar.gz"
-PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host setuptools:host MarkupSafe:host"
+PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host MarkupSafe:host"
 PKG_LONGDESC="Mako is a super-fast templating language that borrows the best ideas from the existing templating languages."
 PKG_TOOLCHAIN="manual"
 
 makeinstall_host() {
+  export DONT_BUILD_LEGACY_PYC=1
   exec_thread_safe python3 setup.py install --prefix=${TOOLCHAIN}
 }
diff --git a/packages/python/devel/MarkupSafe/package.mk b/packages/python/devel/MarkupSafe/package.mk
index 1f6722a490..5137f15bab 100644
--- a/packages/python/devel/MarkupSafe/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/devel/MarkupSafe/package.mk
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ PKG_SHA256="af598ed32d6ae86f1b747b82783958b1a4ab8f617b06fe68795c7f026abbdcad"
 PKG_LICENSE="GPL"
 PKG_SITE="https://pypi.org/project/MarkupSafe/"
 PKG_URL="https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/${PKG_NAME:0:1}/${PKG_NAME}/${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}.tar.gz"
-PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host setuptools:host"
+PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host"
 PKG_LONGDESC="MarkupSafe implements a XML/HTML/XHTML Markup safe string for Python"
 PKG_TOOLCHAIN="manual"
 
 makeinstall_host() {
+  export DONT_BUILD_LEGACY_PYC=1
   exec_thread_safe python3 setup.py install --prefix=${TOOLCHAIN}
 }
diff --git a/packages/python/devel/distutilscross/package.mk b/packages/python/devel/distutilscross/package.mk
index 69ea5b28a2..7392a9b522 100644
--- a/packages/python/devel/distutilscross/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/devel/distutilscross/package.mk
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ PKG_SHA256="4ed3fb427708c8a3ed5fe9c599532480f581078a1e0aec0e50f40eb58e9f0015"
 PKG_LICENSE="GPL"
 PKG_SITE="https://pypi.org/project/distutilscross/"
 PKG_URL="https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/${PKG_NAME:0:1}/${PKG_NAME}/${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}.tar.gz"
-PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host setuptools:host"
+PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host"
 PKG_LONGDESC="distutilscross enhances distutils to support Cross Compile of Python extensions"
 PKG_TOOLCHAIN="manual"
 
 makeinstall_host() {
+  export DONT_BUILD_LEGACY_PYC=1
   exec_thread_safe python setup.py install --prefix=${TOOLCHAIN}
 }
diff --git a/packages/python/devel/meson/package.mk b/packages/python/devel/meson/package.mk
index f8ec6cc937..16edd16d7d 100644
--- a/packages/python/devel/meson/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/devel/meson/package.mk
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@ PKG_SHA256="b1db3a153087549497ee52b1c938d2134e0338214fe14f7efd16fecd57b639f5"
 PKG_LICENSE="Apache"
 PKG_SITE="http://mesonbuild.com"
 PKG_URL="https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/releases/download/${PKG_VERSION}/${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}.tar.gz"
-PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host setuptools:host"
+PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host"
 PKG_LONGDESC="High productivity build system"
 PKG_TOOLCHAIN="manual"
 
-make_host() {
+makeinstall_host() {
+  export DONT_BUILD_LEGACY_PYC=1
   python3 setup.py build
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/python/devel/setuptools/package.mk b/packages/python/devel/setuptools/package.mk
deleted file mode 100644
index f91679b31c..0000000000
--- a/packages/python/devel/setuptools/package.mk
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
-# Copyright (C) 2009-2016 Stephan Raue (stephan@openelec.tv)
-# Copyright (C) 2018-present Team LibreELEC (https://libreelec.tv)
-
-PKG_NAME="setuptools"
-PKG_VERSION="52.0.0"
-PKG_SHA256="ff0c74d1b905a224d647f99c6135eacbec2620219992186b81aa20012bc7f882"
-PKG_LICENSE="OSS"
-PKG_SITE="https://pypi.org/project/setuptools"
-PKG_URL="https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/archive/v${PKG_VERSION}.tar.gz"
-PKG_DEPENDS_HOST="Python3:host"
-PKG_LONGDESC="Replaces Setuptools as the standard method for working with Python module distributions."
-PKG_TOOLCHAIN="manual"
-
-make_host() {
-  python3 bootstrap.py
-}
-
-makeinstall_host() {
-  exec_thread_safe python3 setup.py install --prefix=${TOOLCHAIN}
-}
diff --git a/packages/python/graphics/Pillow/package.mk b/packages/python/graphics/Pillow/package.mk
index ee8ba88449..76c0610755 100644
--- a/packages/python/graphics/Pillow/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/graphics/Pillow/package.mk
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ pre_make_target() {
 }
 
 make_target() {
-  python3 setup.py build --cross-compile
+  python3 setup.py build
 }
 
 makeinstall_target() {
diff --git a/packages/python/security/pycryptodome/package.mk b/packages/python/security/pycryptodome/package.mk
index fe6557b194..4af979bc6d 100644
--- a/packages/python/security/pycryptodome/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/security/pycryptodome/package.mk
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ pre_configure_target() {
 }
 
 make_target() {
-  python3 setup.py build --cross-compile
+  python3 setup.py build
 }
 
 makeinstall_target() {
diff --git a/packages/python/system/simplejson/package.mk b/packages/python/system/simplejson/package.mk
index 9b9a44566f..84083d141b 100644
--- a/packages/python/system/simplejson/package.mk
+++ b/packages/python/system/simplejson/package.mk
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ pre_make_target() {
 }
 
 make_target() {
-  python3 setup.py build --cross-compile
+  python3 setup.py build
 }
 
 makeinstall_target() {
diff --git a/packages/tools/qemu/package.mk b/packages/tools/qemu/package.mk
index a248d60313..2f188c7101 100644
--- a/packages/tools/qemu/package.mk
+++ b/packages/tools/qemu/package.mk
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2016-present Team LibreELEC (https://libreelec.tv)
 
 PKG_NAME="qemu"
-PKG_VERSION="8.0.3"
-PKG_SHA256="ecf4d32cbef9d397bfc8cc50e4d1e92a1b30253bf32e8ee73c7a8dcf9a232b09"
+PKG_VERSION="8.1.0"
+PKG_SHA256="710c101198e334d4762eef65f649bc43fa8a5dd75303554b8acfec3eb25f0e55"
 PKG_LICENSE="GPL"
 PKG_SITE="https://www.qemu.org"
 PKG_URL="https://download.qemu.org/qemu-${PKG_VERSION}.tar.xz"
diff --git a/packages/tools/qemu/patches/python.patch b/packages/tools/qemu/patches/python.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5f09d08e55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tools/qemu/patches/python.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+--- a/configure	2023-07-27 09:58:05.337334830 +0000
++++ b/configure	2023-07-27 09:57:58.300630393 +0000
+@@ -950,6 +950,8 @@
+     mkvenv_flags="--online"
+ fi
+ 
++ln -s ${source_path}/../../toolchain/bin/meson pyvenv/bin/meson
++
+ if ! $mkvenv ensure \
+      $mkvenv_flags \
+      --dir "${source_path}/python/wheels" \