diff --git a/readthedocs/doc_builder/python_environments.py b/readthedocs/doc_builder/python_environments.py
index f5c55f5f44f..52cc0c0c552 100644
--- a/readthedocs/doc_builder/python_environments.py
+++ b/readthedocs/doc_builder/python_environments.py
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ def install_core_requirements(self):
         """Install basic Read the Docs requirements into the virtualenv."""
         requirements = [
             'Pygments==2.2.0',
-            'setuptools==28.8.0',
+            'setuptools==36.6.0',
             'docutils==0.13.1',
             'mock==1.0.1',
             'pillow==2.6.1',