diff --git a/build-tools/build-wheels/docker/centos-dockerfile b/build-tools/build-wheels/docker/centos-dockerfile
index 7a3edfe7..0b12282c 100644
--- a/build-tools/build-wheels/docker/centos-dockerfile
+++ b/build-tools/build-wheels/docker/centos-dockerfile
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@ ARG BUILD_STREAM=stable
 # instead be added to the wheels.cfg file in the future.
 RUN set -ex ;\
     sed -i '/\[main\]/ atimeout=120' /etc/yum.conf ;\
+    yum makecache ;\
+# nss>3.53.1 causes compile errors with some wheels
+    nss_rpms=$(echo nss nss-util nss-tools nss-sysinit nss-softokn \
+              nss-softokn-devel nss-softokn-freebl nss-devel \
+              nss-util-devel nss-softokn-freebl-devel) ;\
+    # install/upgrade all NSS packages @ v3.53.1
+    yum install -y $(echo $nss_rpms | awk -v RS=' ' '{print $1 "-3.53.1"}') ;\
+    # add "exclude=$nss_rpms" to the CentOS repo file
+    sed -i -r -e "/^\\s*[[]updates[]]/a exclude=$nss_rpms" /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo ;\
+# install required packages
     yum install -y epel-release centos-release-openstack-queens ;\
     yum install -y git gcc zip bzip2 unzip \
                    python3 python3-pip python3-wheel python3-devel \