diff --git a/setup/ubuntu/binary_distribution/packages-focal.txt b/setup/ubuntu/binary_distribution/packages-focal.txt
index bea831f62f63..9dc041a49dd6 100644
--- a/setup/ubuntu/binary_distribution/packages-focal.txt
+++ b/setup/ubuntu/binary_distribution/packages-focal.txt
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ libnlopt-cxx0
 libogg0
 libopengl0
 libpng16-16
+libpython3.8
 libqt5core5a
 libqt5gui5
 libqt5printsupport5