diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 12de60e..1116b59 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 requires = ["hatchling"]
 build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
+[tool.hatch.metadata]
+allow-direct-references = true
+
 [project]
 name = "modflowapi"
 dynamic = ["version"]