diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 83a0982..30facc9 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-Cython
+cython>=0.17
 flake8
 versioneer
 pytest
 blosc
 contexttimer
 pyzfp
+
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index afb8dd6..5dff694 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -34,10 +34,13 @@ def extensions():
 with open("README.md", "r") as fh:
     long_description = fh.read()
 
+with open('requirements.txt') as f:
+    required = f.read().splitlines()
+
 configuration = {
     'name': 'pyrevolve',
     'packages': ["pyrevolve"],
-    'setup_requires': ['cython>=0.17'],
+    'setup_requires': required,
     'ext_modules': lazy_cythonize(extensions),
     'version': versioneer.get_version(),
     'cmdclass': versioneer.get_cmdclass(),