diff --git a/doc/source/admin/upgrades/major-upgrades.rst b/doc/source/admin/upgrades/major-upgrades.rst
index c44c3c1894..0c9e98ad9b 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/upgrades/major-upgrades.rst
+++ b/doc/source/admin/upgrades/major-upgrades.rst
@@ -151,6 +151,17 @@ Please review the contents of the playbook for more information.
 
     # openstack-ansible "${SCRIPTS_PATH}/upgrade-utilities/deploy-config-changes.yml"
 
+Clean up the pip.conf file
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The presence of the ``pip.conf`` file can cause build failures during the
+upgrade to |current_release_formal_name|. This playbook removes the
+``pip.conf`` file on all servers and containers.
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    # openstack-ansible ""${SCRIPTS_PATH}/upgrade-utilities/pip-conf-removal.yml"
+
 Upgrade hosts
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/scripts/run-upgrade.sh b/scripts/run-upgrade.sh
index 55d330e415..c67dd24dff 100755
--- a/scripts/run-upgrade.sh
+++ b/scripts/run-upgrade.sh
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ function main {
 
     pushd ${MAIN_PATH}/playbooks
         RUN_TASKS+=("${SCRIPTS_PATH}/upgrade-utilities/deploy-config-changes.yml")
+        RUN_TASKS+=("${SCRIPTS_PATH}/upgrade-utilities/pip-conf-removal.yml")
         # we don't want to trigger container restarts for these groups yet
         RUN_TASKS+=("setup-hosts.yml --limit '!galera_all:!rabbitmq_all'")
         # add new container config to containers but don't restart
diff --git a/scripts/upgrade-utilities/pip-conf-removal.yml b/scripts/upgrade-utilities/pip-conf-removal.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd200f2cb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/upgrade-utilities/pip-conf-removal.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Copyright 2015, Rackspace US, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+- name: Remove pip.conf if found
+  hosts: all
+  gather_facts: true
+  user: root
+  tasks:
+    - name: Remove pip.conf
+      file:
+        path: "{{ ansible_env.HOME }}/.pip/pip.conf"
+        state: "absent"