diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a0109666..1567f868 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 from __future__ import print_function
 
-from setuptools import setup
-from setuptools import Distribution
-from setuptools.command.sdist import sdist
-from setuptools.extension import Extension
 import subprocess
 import platform
 import re
@@ -13,6 +9,13 @@
 import shutil
 import shlex
 
+os.environ['SETUPTOOLS_USE_DISTUTILS'] = 'local'
+
+from setuptools import setup
+from setuptools import Distribution
+from setuptools.command.sdist import sdist
+from setuptools.extension import Extension
+
 
 SKIP_CYTHON_FILE = '__dont_use_cython__.txt'