diff --git a/salt/__init__.py b/salt/__init__.py
index ebc54ac8443..ec551abbc62 100644
--- a/salt/__init__.py
+++ b/salt/__init__.py
@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@ warnings.filterwarnings(
     append=True,
 )
 
+# Filter the setuptools UserWarning until we stop relying on distutils
+warnings.filterwarnings(
+    "ignore",
+    message="Setuptools is replacing distutils.",
+    category=UserWarning,
+    module="_distutils_hack",
+)
+
 
 def __define_global_system_encoding_variable__():
     import sys
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0fac50ab4bc..9d994ac8730 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ The setup script for salt
 """
 
 # pylint: disable=file-perms,resource-leakage
+import setuptools  # isort:skip
+
 import contextlib
 import distutils.dist
 import glob