diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 301e99643..44c512128 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
     'rsa>=3.1.4,<5; python_version >= "3.6"',
     # install enum34 to support 2.7. enum34 only works up to python version 3.3.
     'enum34>=1.1.10; python_version < "3.4"',
-    "setuptools>=40.3.0",
     "six>=1.9.0",
 )