diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index bec62534..6af351ec 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,27 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
 
+  # test that we can generate a software distribution and install it
+  # thus avoid missing file issues after packaging.
+  sdist-linux:
+    name: 'sdist'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - name: Setup python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v2
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.10'
+
+      - name: Build sdist
+        run: python setup.py sdist --formats=zip
+
+      - name: Install sdist from .zips
+        run: python -m pip install dist/*.zip
+
   testing:
     name: 'install + test-suite'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest