1 files changed, 5 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a3cddf38e..c71bed030 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -22,8 +22,11 @@ use_setuptools()
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
 here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
-README = open(os.path.join(here, 'README.txt')).read()
-CHANGES = open(os.path.join(here, 'CHANGES.txt')).read()
+try:
+    README = open(os.path.join(here, 'README.txt')).read()
+    CHANGES = open(os.path.join(here, 'CHANGES.txt')).read()
+except IOError:
+    README = CHANGES = ''
 
 install_requires=[
     'chameleon.core [lxml]',