Diels-Alder transformation of substituted 3-benzoylamino-2H-pyran-2-ones 1 with a variety of alkynes 2 under microwave (MW) irradiation in a closed system can be intensified in a novel way by addition of a minor amount of butan-1-ol. When the reagents are not volatile under the used conditions, the reactions do not seem to be influenced by the addition of butan-1-ol, as demonstrated by the cycloaddition of a fused 2H-pyran-2-one 5 with N-ethylmaleimide (6) giving adduct 7.