diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d4a98d0..18ac617 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ install_requires = []
 
 # add readline
 if sys.platform == 'darwin':
-    if not setupext.check_for_readline():
+    if 'bdist_wheel' in sys.argv[1:] or not setupext.check_for_readline():
         install_requires.append('gnureadline')
 elif sys.platform.startswith('win'):
     extras_require['terminal'].append('pyreadline>=2.0')