diff --git a/tools/pygrub/setup.py b/tools/pygrub/setup.py
index 502aa4df2d..c9cac47eee 100644
--- a/tools/pygrub/setup.py
+++ b/tools/pygrub/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-from distutils.core import setup, Extension
-from distutils.ccompiler import new_compiler
+# Prefer setuptools, fall back to distutils
+try:
+    from setuptools import setup, Extension
+except ImportError:
+    from distutils.core import setup, Extension
 import os
 import sys
 
diff --git a/tools/python/setup.py b/tools/python/setup.py
index 721a3141d7..02354f6986 100644
--- a/tools/python/setup.py
+++ b/tools/python/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-
-from distutils.core import setup, Extension
+# Prefer setuptools, fall back to distutils
+try:
+    from setuptools import setup, Extension
+except ImportError:
+    from distutils.core import setup, Extension
 import os, sys
 
 XEN_ROOT = "../.."