diff --git a/python/private/internal_config_repo.bzl b/python/private/internal_config_repo.bzl
index 91f786c..fc1f8d3 100644
--- a/python/private/internal_config_repo.bzl
+++ b/python/private/internal_config_repo.bzl
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 _CONFIG_TEMPLATE = """
 config = struct(
   build_python_zip_default = {build_python_zip_default},
+  supports_whl_extraction = {supports_whl_extraction},
   enable_pystar = True,
   enable_pipstar = {enable_pipstar},
   enable_deprecation_warnings = {enable_deprecation_warnings},
@@ -91,8 +92,20 @@
 def _internal_config_repo_impl(rctx):
     # An empty version signifies a development build, which is treated as
     # the latest version.
-    bazel_major_version = int(native.bazel_version.split(".")[0]) if native.bazel_version else 99999
+    if native.bazel_version:
+        version_parts = native.bazel_version.split(".")
+        bazel_major_version = int(version_parts[0])
+        bazel_minor_version = int(version_parts[1])
+    else:
+        bazel_major_version = 99999
+        bazel_minor_version = 99999
+
+    supports_whl_extraction = False
     if bazel_major_version >= 8:
+        # Extracting .whl files requires Bazel 8.3.0 or later.
+        if bazel_major_version > 8 or bazel_minor_version >= 3:
+            supports_whl_extraction = True
+
         builtin_py_info_symbol = "None"
         builtin_py_runtime_info_symbol = "None"
         builtin_py_cc_link_params_provider = "None"
@@ -107,6 +120,7 @@
         enable_deprecation_warnings = _bool_from_environ(rctx, _ENABLE_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS_ENVVAR_NAME, _ENABLE_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS_DEFAULT),
         builtin_py_info_symbol = builtin_py_info_symbol,
         builtin_py_runtime_info_symbol = builtin_py_runtime_info_symbol,
+        supports_whl_extraction = str(supports_whl_extraction),
         builtin_py_cc_link_params_provider = builtin_py_cc_link_params_provider,
         bazel_8_or_later = str(bazel_major_version >= 8),
         bazel_9_or_later = str(bazel_major_version >= 9),
diff --git a/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl b/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl
index d8f32ff..044d18a 100644
--- a/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl
+++ b/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl
@@ -377,10 +377,7 @@
     #
     # Remove non-pipstar and config_load check when we release rules_python 2.
     if enable_pipstar:
-        # Extracting .whl files requires Bazel 8.3.0 or later, so require a
-        # minimum of Bazel 9.0.0 to ensure compatibilty with earlier versions
-        # of Bazel 8.
-        if rp_config.bazel_9_or_later:
+        if rp_config.supports_whl_extraction:
             extract_path = whl_path
         else:
             extract_path = rctx.path(whl_path.basename + ".zip")
@@ -389,7 +386,7 @@
             archive = extract_path,
             output = "site-packages",
         )
-        if not rp_config.bazel_9_or_later:
+        if not rp_config.supports_whl_extraction:
             rctx.delete(extract_path)
 
         metadata = whl_metadata(