diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42eb4101e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+include LICENSE.txt
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 98829222f..ee1f0a6fa 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@
     },
     packages = setuptools.find_packages(),
     package_data = {'augur': ['data/*']},
-    data_files = [("", ["LICENSE.txt"])],
     python_requires = '>={}'.format('.'.join(str(n) for n in min_version)),
     install_requires = [
         "bcbio-gff >=0.6.0, ==0.6.*",