diff --git a/common/lib/capa/setup.py b/common/lib/capa/setup.py
index b9466ca101..dcb631e376 100644
--- a/common/lib/capa/setup.py
+++ b/common/lib/capa/setup.py
@@ -4,5 +4,5 @@ setup(
     name="capa",
     version="0.1",
     packages=find_packages(exclude=["tests"]),
-    install_requires=["setuptools"],
+    install_requires=["distribute>=0.6.28"],
 )
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/setup.py b/common/lib/xmodule/setup.py
index e1e50daf98..fedb0e4447 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/setup.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/setup.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ setup(
     version="0.1",
     packages=find_packages(exclude=["tests"]),
     install_requires=[
-        'setuptools',
+        'distribute',
         'docopt',
         'capa',
         'path.py',
diff --git a/pavelib/prereqs.py b/pavelib/prereqs.py
index 4219a9a58b..220a5387c4 100644
--- a/pavelib/prereqs.py
+++ b/pavelib/prereqs.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ PYTHON_REQ_FILES = [
     'requirements/edx/github.txt',
     'requirements/edx/local.txt',
     'requirements/edx/base.txt',
+    'requirements/edx/post.txt',
 ]
 
 # Developers can have private requirements, for local copies of github repos,
diff --git a/requirements/edx/base.txt b/requirements/edx/base.txt
index 4bb8bcde1f..efa4f34121 100644
--- a/requirements/edx/base.txt
+++ b/requirements/edx/base.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ celery==3.1.18
 cssselect==0.9.1
 dealer==2.0.4
 defusedxml==0.4.1
+distribute>=0.6.28, <0.7
 django-babel-underscore==0.1.0
 django-celery==3.1.16
 django-countries==3.3
@@ -51,7 +52,6 @@ Markdown==2.2.1
 --allow-unverified meliae
 meliae==0.4.0
 mongoengine==0.7.10
-MySQL-python==1.2.5
 networkx==1.7
 nose==1.3.3
 oauthlib==0.7.2
diff --git a/requirements/edx/post.txt b/requirements/edx/post.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..202784390c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements/edx/post.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# DON'T JUST ADD NEW DEPENDENCIES!!!
+#
+# If you open a pull request that adds a new dependency, you should notify:
+#   * @mollydb to check licensing
+#   * One of @e0d, @feanil, @fredsmith, @maxrothman, or @jibsheet
+#     to check system requirements
+
+# This must be installed after distribute has been updated.
+MySQL-python==1.2.4
diff --git a/requirements/edx/pre.txt b/requirements/edx/pre.txt
index 5efe897838..89bfe09890 100644
--- a/requirements/edx/pre.txt
+++ b/requirements/edx/pre.txt
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@
 #   * One of @e0d, @feanil, @fredsmith, @maxrothman, or @jibsheet
 #     to check system requirements
 
-# Use a modern setuptools instead of distribute
-setuptools==18.0.1
-
 # Numpy and scipy can't be installed in the same pip run.
 # Install numpy before other things to help resolve the problem.
 numpy==1.6.2
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1b2ef6ec30..6dbbdd90aa 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from setuptools import setup
 setup(
     name="Open edX",
     version="0.4",
-    install_requires=["setuptools"],
+    install_requires=["distribute"],
     requires=[],
     # NOTE: These are not the names we should be installing.  This tree should
     # be reorganized to be a more conventional Python tree.