diff --git a/release/hooks/hook-pkg_resources.py b/release/hooks/hook-pkg_resources.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8bd787f2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release/hooks/hook-pkg_resources.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# flake8: noqa
+
+# temporary fix for https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/1963
+# can be removed when we upgrade to PyInstaller 3.7.
+hiddenimports = collect_submodules('pkg_resources._vendor')
+hiddenimports.append('pkg_resources.py2_warn')
+excludedimports = ['__main__']