diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 1a9bff694..901d3ed13 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ To install the synapse homeserver run::
 
     virtualenv -p python2.7 ~/.synapse
     source ~/.synapse/bin/activate
+    pip install --upgrade pip
     pip install --upgrade setuptools
     pip install https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tarball/master