diff --git a/tools/install_venv.py b/tools/install_venv.py
index 78447c860bd4..cfd4c6bd4872 100644
--- a/tools/install_venv.py
+++ b/tools/install_venv.py
@@ -150,6 +150,9 @@ def pip_install(*args):
 def install_dependencies(venv=VENV):
     print 'Installing dependencies with pip (this can take a while)...'
 
+    # First things first, make sure our venv has the latest pip.
+    pip_install('pip')
+
     # Install greenlet by hand - just listing it in the requires file does not
     # get it in stalled in the right order
     pip_install('greenlet')