diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index ab30e9ace..0905189be 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 include *.txt
+include README.md
diff --git a/README b/README.md
similarity index 100%
rename from README
rename to README.md
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 23d7d3584..599be71b2 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 from distutils.command.build_py import build_py
 
-with open('README') as readme_stream:
+with open('README.md') as readme_stream:
     readme = readme_stream.read()
 
 class test(Command):