diff --git a/IPython/testing/iptest.py b/IPython/testing/iptest.py
index ecc1ee457..ef6f6376c 100644
--- a/IPython/testing/iptest.py
+++ b/IPython/testing/iptest.py
@@ -42,12 +42,6 @@ from IPython.external.decorators import KnownFailure, knownfailureif
 
 pjoin = path.join
 
-
-#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Globals
-#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Warnings control
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -127,7 +121,7 @@ have = {}
 have['curses'] = test_for('_curses')
 have['matplotlib'] = test_for('matplotlib')
 have['numpy'] = test_for('numpy')
-have['pexpect'] = test_for('IPython.external.pexpect')
+have['pexpect'] = test_for('pexpect')
 have['pymongo'] = test_for('pymongo')
 have['pygments'] = test_for('pygments')
 have['qt'] = test_for('IPython.external.qt')
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d57540d28..a2887bd74 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ from setupbase import (
     find_entry_points,
     build_scripts_entrypt,
     find_data_files,
-    check_for_dependencies,
+    check_for_readline,
     git_prebuild,
     check_submodule_status,
     update_submodules,
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ from setupbase import (
     install_scripts_for_symlink,
     unsymlink,
 )
-from setupext import setupext
 
 isfile = os.path.isfile
 pjoin = os.path.join
@@ -268,14 +267,22 @@ if sys.version_info < (3, 3):
 extras_require['notebook'].extend(extras_require['nbformat'])
 extras_require['nbconvert'].extend(extras_require['nbformat'])
 
-install_requires = []
+install_requires = [
+    'decorator',
+    'pickleshare',
+    'simplegeneric>0.8',
+]
 
-# add readline
+# add platform-specific dependencies
 if sys.platform == 'darwin':
-    if 'bdist_wheel' in sys.argv[1:] or not setupext.check_for_readline():
+    install_requires.append('appnope')
+    if 'bdist_wheel' in sys.argv[1:] or not check_for_readline():
         install_requires.append('gnureadline')
-elif sys.platform.startswith('win'):
+
+if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
     extras_require['terminal'].append('pyreadline>=2.0')
+else:
+    install_requires.append('pexpect')
 
 everything = set()
 for deps in extras_require.values():
@@ -317,13 +324,6 @@ if 'setuptools' in sys.modules:
                                   "ipython_win_post_install.py"}}
 
 else:
-    # If we are installing without setuptools, call this function which will
-    # check for dependencies an inform the user what is needed.  This is
-    # just to make life easy for users.
-    for install_cmd in ('install', 'symlink'):
-        if install_cmd in sys.argv:
-            check_for_dependencies()
-            break
     # scripts has to be a non-empty list, or install_scripts isn't called
     setup_args['scripts'] = [e.split('=')[0].strip() for e in find_entry_points()]
 
diff --git a/setupbase.py b/setupbase.py
index 4fe466657..956a51e5a 100644
--- a/setupbase.py
+++ b/setupbase.py
@@ -490,37 +490,23 @@ class install_scripts_for_symlink(install_scripts):
 # Verify all dependencies
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-def check_for_dependencies():
-    """Check for IPython's dependencies.
-
-    This function should NOT be called if running under setuptools!
-    """
-    from setupext.setupext import (
-        print_line, print_raw, print_status,
-        check_for_sphinx, check_for_pygments,
-        check_for_nose, check_for_pexpect,
-        check_for_pyzmq, check_for_readline,
-        check_for_jinja2, check_for_tornado
-    )
-    print_line()
-    print_raw("BUILDING IPYTHON")
-    print_status('python', sys.version)
-    print_status('platform', sys.platform)
-    if sys.platform == 'win32':
-        print_status('Windows version', sys.getwindowsversion())
-
-    print_raw("")
-    print_raw("OPTIONAL DEPENDENCIES")
-
-    check_for_sphinx()
-    check_for_pygments()
-    check_for_nose()
-    if os.name == 'posix':
-        check_for_pexpect()
-    check_for_pyzmq()
-    check_for_tornado()
-    check_for_readline()
-    check_for_jinja2()
+def check_for_readline():
+    """Check for GNU readline"""
+    try:
+        import gnureadline as readline
+    except ImportError:
+        pass
+    else:
+        return True
+    try:
+        import readline
+    except ImportError:
+        return False
+    else:
+        if sys.platform == 'darwin' and 'libedit' in readline.__doc__:
+            print("Ignoring readline linked to libedit", file=sys.stderr)
+            return False
+        return True
 
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # VCS related
@@ -670,7 +656,7 @@ def get_bdist_wheel():
                     if found:
                         lis.pop(idx)
                 
-                for pkg in ("gnureadline", "pyreadline", "mock", "terminado"):
+                for pkg in ("gnureadline", "pyreadline", "mock", "terminado", "appnope", "pexpect"):
                     _remove_startswith(requires, pkg)
                 requires.append("gnureadline; sys.platform == 'darwin' and platform.python_implementation == 'CPython'")
                 requires.append("terminado (>=0.3.3); extra == 'notebook' and sys.platform != 'win32'")
@@ -678,6 +664,8 @@ def get_bdist_wheel():
                 requires.append("pyreadline (>=2.0); extra == 'terminal' and sys.platform == 'win32' and platform.python_implementation == 'CPython'")
                 requires.append("pyreadline (>=2.0); extra == 'all' and sys.platform == 'win32' and platform.python_implementation == 'CPython'")
                 requires.append("mock; extra == 'test' and python_version < '3.3'")
+                requires.append("appnope; sys.platform == 'darwin'")
+                requires.append("pexpect; sys.platform != 'win32'")
                 for r in requires:
                     pkg_info['Requires-Dist'] = r
                 write_pkg_info(metadata_path, pkg_info)