diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ec40c852..974a70f7 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,16 +2,6 @@
 import codecs
 import os
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
-try:
-    from pip.req import parse_requirements
-    from pip.download import PipSession
-except ImportError:
-    print('Cannot find pip.')
-    raise
-
-# Get requirements from the requirements.txt file.
-pip_requirements = parse_requirements("requirements.txt", session=PipSession())
-install_requires = [str(ir.req) for ir in pip_requirements]
 
 here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 
@@ -23,6 +13,13 @@ def read_file(filename):
     return content
 
 
+def parse_requirements(filename):
+    """ load requirements from a pip requirements file """
+    with open(filename) as lines:
+        lineiter = (line.strip() for line in lines)
+        return [line for line in lineiter if line and not line.startswith("#")]
+
+
 README = read_file('README.rst')
 CHANGELOG = read_file('CHANGELOG.rst')
 
@@ -59,5 +56,5 @@ setup(name='ihatemoney',
       packages=find_packages(),
       include_package_data=True,
       zip_safe=False,
-      install_requires=install_requires,
+      install_requires=parse_requirements('requirements.txt'),
       entry_points=ENTRY_POINTS)