diff --git a/rakefiles/prereqs.rake b/rakefiles/prereqs.rake
index ef4958e9d7..e92aeb3502 100644
--- a/rakefiles/prereqs.rake
+++ b/rakefiles/prereqs.rake
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ task :install_python_prereqs => "ws:migrate" do
     unchanged = 'Python requirements unchanged, nothing to install'
     when_changed(unchanged, 'requirements/**/*') do
         ENV['PIP_DOWNLOAD_CACHE'] ||= '.pip_download_cache'
+        sh('pip install --exists-action w -r requirements/edx/pre.txt')
         sh('pip install --exists-action w -r requirements/edx/base.txt')
         sh('pip install --exists-action w -r requirements/edx/post.txt')
         # Check for private-requirements.txt: used to install our libs as working dirs,
diff --git a/requirements/edx/base.txt b/requirements/edx/base.txt
index ef0209ee03..27d6ced011 100644
--- a/requirements/edx/base.txt
+++ b/requirements/edx/base.txt
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ mako==0.7.3
 Markdown==2.2.1
 networkx==1.7
 nltk==2.0.4
-numpy==1.6.2
 paramiko==1.9.0
 path.py==3.0.1
 Pillow==1.7.8
diff --git a/requirements/edx/pre.txt b/requirements/edx/pre.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a8dff9bf9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements/edx/pre.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# 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