diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 70c2b3f3..782bb21f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
 # Copyright (c) 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
@@ -17,6 +16,14 @@
 # THIS FILE IS MANAGED BY THE GLOBAL REQUIREMENTS REPO - DO NOT EDIT
 import setuptools
 
+# In python < 2.7.4, a lazy loading of package `pbr` will break
+# setuptools if some other modules registered functions in `atexit`.
+# solution from: http://bugs.python.org/issue15881#msg170215
+try:
+    import multiprocessing  # noqa
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+
 setuptools.setup(
-    setup_requires=['pbr'],
+    setup_requires=['pbr>=1.8'],
     pbr=True)
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index a9b396af..51d3ffc4 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
+# The order of packages is significant, because pip processes them in the order
+# of appearance. Changing the order has an impact on the overall integration
+# process, which may cause wedges in the gate later.
 bashate>=0.2 # Apache-2.0
-flake8>=2.5.4,<2.6.0  # MIT
+flake8<2.6.0,>=2.5.4 # MIT
 
 # this is required for the docs build jobs
-sphinx>=1.1.2,!=1.2.0,!=1.3b1,<1.3  # BSD
-oslosphinx>=2.5.0,!=3.4.0  # Apache-2.0
-openstackdocstheme>=1.2.3
+sphinx!=1.3b1,<1.3,>=1.2.1 # BSD
+oslosphinx!=3.4.0,>=2.5.0 # Apache-2.0
+openstackdocstheme>=1.0.3 # Apache-2.0
 doc8 # Apache-2.0
-reno>=1.6.2 # Apache-2.0
+reno>=1.8.0 # Apache2