diff --git a/changelog/823.trivial.rst b/changelog/823.trivial.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f09b4b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/823.trivial.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove usage of ``py._pydir`` as an rsync candidate.
diff --git a/src/xdist/workermanage.py b/src/xdist/workermanage.py
index 8d291d4..a8a7c0b 100644
--- a/src/xdist/workermanage.py
+++ b/src/xdist/workermanage.py
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ class NodeManager:
         pytestpath = get_dir(pytest.__file__)
         pytestdir = get_dir(_pytest.__file__)
         config = self.config
-        candidates = [py._pydir, pytestpath, pytestdir]
+        candidates = [pytestpath, pytestdir]
         candidates += config.option.rsyncdir
         rsyncroots = config.getini("rsyncdirs")
         if rsyncroots: