diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a814fde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+*.py[oc]
+*.egg-info/
+.hg
+dist/
+build/
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index bc405dd..09a3581 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
-from distutils.core import setup
+try:
+    from setuptools import setup
+except ImportError:
+    from distutils.core import setup
 
 setup(
     name = "pyke",