diff --git a/bin/ansible-playbook b/bin/ansible-playbook
index f91c86ef4b..6c023fc8cd 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-playbook
+++ b/bin/ansible-playbook
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 
 #######################################################
 
+__requires__ = ['ansible']
+import pkg_resources
+
 import sys
 import os
 import stat
diff --git a/bin/ansible-vault b/bin/ansible-vault
index 1c2e48a063..07092376c4 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-vault
+++ b/bin/ansible-vault
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
 # example playbook to bootstrap this script in the examples/ dir which
 # installs ansible and sets it up to run on cron.
 
+__requires__ = ['ansible']
+import pkg_resources
+
 import os
 import sys
 import traceback
diff --git a/packaging/rpm/ansible.spec b/packaging/rpm/ansible.spec
index ae71c119ea..9d667b1a52 100644
--- a/packaging/rpm/ansible.spec
+++ b/packaging/rpm/ansible.spec
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ Requires: python26-paramiko
 Requires: python26-jinja2
 Requires: python26-keyczar
 Requires: python26-httplib2
+Requires: python26-setuptools
+%endif
+
+# RHEL == 6
+%if 0%{?rhel} == 6
+Requires: python-crypto2.6
 %endif
 
 # RHEL > 5
@@ -35,6 +41,7 @@ Requires: python-paramiko
 Requires: python-jinja2
 Requires: python-keyczar
 Requires: python-httplib2
+Requires: python-setuptools
 %endif
 
 # FEDORA > 17
@@ -45,6 +52,7 @@ Requires: python-paramiko
 Requires: python-jinja2
 Requires: python-keyczar
 Requires: python-httplib2
+Requires: python-setuptools
 %endif
 
 # SuSE/openSuSE
@@ -56,6 +64,7 @@ Requires: python-jinja2
 Requires: python-keyczar
 Requires: python-yaml
 Requires: python-httplib2
+Requires: python-setuptools
 %endif
 
 Requires: sshpass
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c537ee9766..166f754ac5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -6,7 +6,17 @@ from glob import glob
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('lib'))
 from ansible import __version__, __author__
-from distutils.core import setup
+try:
+    from setuptools import setup
+    raise ImportError
+except ImportError:
+    print('''
+ansible now needs setuptools in order to build.
+
+Some scripts now need setuptools installed in order to run.
+          ''')
+    raise
+
 
 # find library modules
 from ansible.constants import DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH
@@ -29,7 +39,7 @@ setup(name='ansible',
       author_email='michael@ansible.com',
       url='http://ansible.com/',
       license='GPLv3',
-      install_requires=['paramiko', 'jinja2', "PyYAML"],
+      install_requires=['paramiko', 'jinja2', "PyYAML", 'setuptools', 'pycrypto >= 2.6'],
       package_dir={ 'ansible': 'lib/ansible' },
       packages=[
          'ansible',