diff --git a/conda_smithy/cli.py b/conda_smithy/cli.py
index f8399de06..0f5801234 100755
--- a/conda_smithy/cli.py
+++ b/conda_smithy/cli.py
@@ -88,6 +88,13 @@ def __call__(self, args):
                           "conda-recipe you want to build a feedstock for. Got {}".format(
                 args.recipe_directory))
 
+        # conda-build has some really fruity behaviour where it needs CONDA_NPY
+        # and CONDA_PY in order to even read a meta. Because we compute version
+        # matricies anyway the actual number makes absolutely no difference.
+        import conda_build.config
+        conda_build.metadata.config.CONDA_NPY = '99.9'
+        conda_build.metadata.config.CONDA_PY = 10
+
         # Get some information about the source recipe.
         if args.recipe_directory:
             meta = MetaData(args.recipe_directory)