diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 8bf5cfb21..4c36686a5 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 exclude *.pyc .DS_Store .gitignore MANIFEST.in
+include requirements.txt
 include setup.py
-include distribute_setup.py
 include README.md
 include LICENSE
 recursive-include bin *
+recursive-include builder/data *
 recursive-include pwnagotchi *.py
 recursive-include pwnagotchi *.yml
 recursive-include pwnagotchi *.*
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 34df29774..7027f424e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,29 +1,31 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
-from distutils.util import strtobool
-import os
+from setuptools.command.install import install
 import glob
-import shutil
+import logging
+import os
 import re
+import shutil
+import warnings
 
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 def install_file(source_filename, dest_filename):
     # do not overwrite network configuration if it exists already
     # https://github.com/evilsocket/pwnagotchi/issues/483
     if dest_filename.startswith('/etc/network/interfaces.d/') and os.path.exists(dest_filename):
-        print("%s exists, skipping ..." % dest_filename)
+        log.info(f"{dest_filename} exists, skipping ...")
         return
 
-    print("installing %s to %s ..." % (source_filename, dest_filename))
-    try:
-        dest_folder = os.path.dirname(dest_filename)
-        if not os.path.isdir(dest_folder):
-            os.makedirs(dest_folder)
+    log.info(f"installing {source_filename} to {dest_filename} ...")
+    dest_folder = os.path.dirname(dest_filename)
+    if not os.path.isdir(dest_folder):
+        os.makedirs(dest_folder)
 
-        shutil.copyfile(source_filename, dest_filename)
-    except Exception as e:
-        print("error installing %s: %s" % (source_filename, e))
+    shutil.copyfile(source_filename, dest_filename)
+    if dest_filename.startswith("/usr/bin/"):
+        os.chmod(dest_filename, 0o755)
 
 
 def install_system_files():
@@ -35,15 +37,27 @@ def install_system_files():
             dest_filename = source_filename.replace(data_path, '')
             install_file(source_filename, dest_filename)
 
+
+def restart_services():
     # reload systemd units
     os.system("systemctl daemon-reload")
 
-
-def installer():
-    install_system_files()
     # for people updating https://github.com/evilsocket/pwnagotchi/pull/551/files
     os.system("systemctl enable fstrim.timer")
 
+
+class CustomInstall(install):
+    def run(self):
+        super().run()
+        if os.geteuid() != 0:
+            warnings.warn(
+                "Not running as root, can't install pwnagotchi system files!"
+            )
+            return
+        install_system_files()
+        restart_services()
+
+
 def version(version_file):
     with open(version_file, 'rt') as vf:
         version_file_content = vf.read()
@@ -54,10 +68,6 @@ def version(version_file):
 
     return None
 
-
-if strtobool(os.environ.get("PWNAGOTCHI_ENABLE_INSTALLER", "1")):
-    installer()
-
 with open('requirements.txt') as fp:
     required = [line.strip() for line in fp if line.strip() != ""]
 
@@ -72,6 +82,9 @@ def version(version_file):
       url='https://pwnagotchi.ai/',
       license='GPL',
       install_requires=required,
+      cmdclass={
+          "install": CustomInstall,
+      },
       scripts=['bin/pwnagotchi'],
       package_data={'pwnagotchi': ['defaults.yml', 'pwnagotchi/defaults.yml', 'locale/*/LC_MESSAGES/*.mo']},
       include_package_data=True,