diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 131e337..00e64c3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -34,8 +34,11 @@ here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 
 # Import the README and use it as the long-description.
 # Note: this will only work if 'README.md' is present in your MANIFEST.in file!
-with io.open(os.path.join(here, 'README.md'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
-    long_description = '\n' + f.read()
+try:
+    with io.open(os.path.join(here, 'README.md'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        long_description = '\n' + f.read()
+except FileNotFoundError:
+    long_description = DESCRIPTION
 
 # Load the package's __version__.py module as a dictionary.
 about = {}
@@ -89,7 +92,7 @@ setup(
     version=about['__version__'],
     description=DESCRIPTION,
     long_description=long_description,
-    long_description_content_type='text/markdown'
+    long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
     author=AUTHOR,
     author_email=EMAIL,
     python_requires=REQUIRES_PYTHON,