diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 860ed326..79207448 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -4,10 +4,13 @@ import pkg_resources
 import sys
 import os
 
-if int(pkg_resources.get_distribution("pip").version.split('.')[0]) < 6:
-    print('pip older than 6.0 not supported, please upgrade pip with:\n\n'
-          '    pip install -U pip')
-    sys.exit(-1)
+try:
+    if int(pkg_resources.get_distribution("pip").version.split('.')[0]) < 6:
+        print('pip older than 6.0 not supported, please upgrade pip with:\n\n'
+              '    pip install -U pip')
+        sys.exit(-1)
+except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
+    pass
 
 if os.environ.get('CONVERT_README'):
     import pypandoc