diff --git a/python/release.sh b/python/release.sh
index c915e124d8..21745aad79 100755
--- a/python/release.sh
+++ b/python/release.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ function run_install_test() {
   local PYTHON=$2
   local PYPI=$3
 
-  virtualenv --no-site-packages -p `which $PYTHON` test-venv
+  virtualenv -p `which $PYTHON` test-venv
 
   # Intentionally put a broken protoc in the path to make sure installation
   # doesn't require protoc installed.
diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
index 0a8d335090..cd66d6c773 100755
--- a/python/setup.py
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -279,6 +279,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
           'build_py': build_py,
           'test_conformance': test_conformance,
       },
+      setup_requires = ['wheel'],
       install_requires=install_requires,
       ext_modules=ext_module_list,
   )