diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 91616eec..4ea32ad6 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ PROJ_METADATA = '%s.json' % PROJ_NAME
 import os, json, imp
 here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 proj_info = json.loads(open(os.path.join(here, PROJ_METADATA), encoding='utf-8').read())
-README = open(os.path.join(here, 'README.rst'), encoding='utf-8').read()
+try:
+    README = open(os.path.join(here, 'README.rst'), encoding='utf-8').read()
+except:
+    README = ""
 CHANGELOG = open(os.path.join(here, 'CHANGELOG.rst'), encoding='utf-8').read()
 VERSION = imp.load_source('version', os.path.join(here, 'src/%s/version.py' % PACKAGE_NAME)).__version__