diff --git a/createInitFile.py b/createInitFile.py
index 27ebe85f0f..c13ff5c91c 100644
--- a/createInitFile.py
+++ b/createInitFile.py
@@ -79,13 +79,18 @@ def createInitFile(dist=None, version=None, sha=None):
     if output:
         __git_sha__ = output.strip()  # remove final linefeed
 
-# update preferences and the user paths
-from psychopy.preferences import prefs
-import sys
-for pathName in prefs.general['paths']:
-    sys.path.append(pathName)
+# This block of code breaks when attempting to pip install on python 3 because
+# configobj is not found. Suppress the error if it involves configobj.
+try:
+    # update preferences and the user paths
+    from psychopy.preferences import prefs
+    for pathName in prefs.general['paths']:
+        sys.path.append(pathName)
 
-from psychopy.tools.versionchooser import useVersion, ensureMinimal
+    from psychopy.tools.versionchooser import useVersion, ensureMinimal
+except ImportError as e:
+    if "configobj" not in e.msg:
+        raise
 """
 
 def _getGitShaString(dist=None, sha=None):
diff --git a/psychopy/__init__.py b/psychopy/__init__.py
index a350712c7d..d2f73205d5 100644
--- a/psychopy/__init__.py
+++ b/psychopy/__init__.py
@@ -38,10 +38,15 @@
     if output:
         __git_sha__ = output.strip()  # remove final linefeed
 
-# update preferences and the user paths
-from psychopy.preferences import prefs
-import sys
-for pathName in prefs.general['paths']:
-    sys.path.append(pathName)
+# This block of code breaks when attempting to pip install on python 3 because
+# configobj is not found. Suppress the error if it involves configobj.
+try:
+    # update preferences and the user paths
+    from psychopy.preferences import prefs
+    for pathName in prefs.general['paths']:
+        sys.path.append(pathName)
 
-from psychopy.tools.versionchooser import useVersion, ensureMinimal
+    from psychopy.tools.versionchooser import useVersion, ensureMinimal
+except ImportError as e:
+    if "configobj" not in e.msg:
+        raise
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0e6b2fd572..d2973fc415 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python2
+#!/usr/bin/env python
 """Install PsychoPy to your current Python dist, including requirements
 
 usage::
@@ -23,12 +23,12 @@
             'python-bidi', 'cffi', 'future', 'json_tricks',
             'pyosf', 'requests[security]',
             'xlrd', 'openpyxl',
-            'pyyaml', 'gevent', 'msgpack-python', 'psutil', 'tables'
+            'pyyaml', 'gevent', 'msgpack-python', 'psutil', 'tables',
             'opencv-python',
             ]
 # some optional dependencies
 if platform == 'darwin':
-    required.append('pyobjc-core', 'pyobjc-framework-Quartz')
+    required.extend(['pyobjc-core', 'pyobjc-framework-Quartz'])
 if PY3:  # doesn't exist on py2
     required.append('pyqt5')