diff --git a/changelog.d/1861.change.rst b/changelog.d/1861.change.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5a4e0a56a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/1861.change.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix empty namespace package installation from wheel.
diff --git a/setuptools/tests/test_wheel.py b/setuptools/tests/test_wheel.py
index e85a4a7e8d..d50816c22a 100644
--- a/setuptools/tests/test_wheel.py
+++ b/setuptools/tests/test_wheel.py
@@ -450,6 +450,34 @@ def __repr__(self):
         }),
     ),
 
+    dict(
+        id='empty_namespace_package',
+        file_defs={
+            'foobar': {
+                '__init__.py': "__import__('pkg_resources').declare_namespace(__name__)",
+            },
+        },
+        setup_kwargs=dict(
+            namespace_packages=['foobar'],
+            packages=['foobar'],
+        ),
+        install_tree=flatten_tree({
+            'foo-1.0-py{py_version}.egg': [
+                'foo-1.0-py{py_version}-nspkg.pth',
+                {'EGG-INFO': [
+                    'PKG-INFO',
+                    'RECORD',
+                    'WHEEL',
+                    'namespace_packages.txt',
+                    'top_level.txt',
+                ]},
+                {'foobar': [
+                    '__init__.py',
+                ]},
+            ]
+        }),
+    ),
+
     dict(
         id='data_in_package',
         file_defs={
diff --git a/setuptools/wheel.py b/setuptools/wheel.py
index e11f0a1d91..22eec05ecd 100644
--- a/setuptools/wheel.py
+++ b/setuptools/wheel.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 """Wheels support."""
 
 from distutils.util import get_platform
+from distutils import log
 import email
 import itertools
 import os
@@ -162,11 +163,17 @@ def raw_req(req):
                 extras_require=extras_require,
             ),
         )
-        write_requirements(
-            setup_dist.get_command_obj('egg_info'),
-            None,
-            os.path.join(egg_info, 'requires.txt'),
-        )
+        # Temporarily disable info traces.
+        log_threshold = log._global_log.threshold
+        log.set_threshold(log.WARN)
+        try:
+            write_requirements(
+                setup_dist.get_command_obj('egg_info'),
+                None,
+                os.path.join(egg_info, 'requires.txt'),
+            )
+        finally:
+            log.set_threshold(log_threshold)
 
     @staticmethod
     def _move_data_entries(destination_eggdir, dist_data):
@@ -206,6 +213,8 @@ def _fix_namespace_packages(egg_info, destination_eggdir):
             for mod in namespace_packages:
                 mod_dir = os.path.join(destination_eggdir, *mod.split('.'))
                 mod_init = os.path.join(mod_dir, '__init__.py')
-                if os.path.exists(mod_dir) and not os.path.exists(mod_init):
+                if not os.path.exists(mod_dir):
+                    os.mkdir(mod_dir)
+                if not os.path.exists(mod_init):
                     with open(mod_init, 'w') as fp:
                         fp.write(NAMESPACE_PACKAGE_INIT)