diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 1bcb7849..da4914d9 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
-iso8601
-six
-kazoo>=2.0
-kafka-python>=0.9.5,<1.0
-PyMySQL>=0.6.7
-oslo.config
-pbr
-ujson>=1.34
+# The order of packages is significant, because pip processes them in the order
+# of appearance. Changing the order has an impact on the overall integration
+# process, which may cause wedges in the gate later.
+iso8601>=0.1.11 # MIT
+six>=1.9.0 # MIT
+kazoo>=2.2 # Apache-2.0
+kafka-python<1.0.0,>=0.9.5 # Apache-2.0
+PyMySQL>=0.6.2 # MIT License
+oslo.config>=3.10.0 # Apache-2.0
+pbr>=1.6 # Apache-2.0
+ujson>=1.35 # BSD
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index fe5eb674..782bb21f
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-# Copyright (c) 2015 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
+# Copyright (c) 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -15,9 +14,16 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 # THIS FILE IS MANAGED BY THE GLOBAL REQUIREMENTS REPO - DO NOT EDIT
-
 import setuptools
 
+# In python < 2.7.4, a lazy loading of package `pbr` will break
+# setuptools if some other modules registered functions in `atexit`.
+# solution from: http://bugs.python.org/issue15881#msg170215
+try:
+    import multiprocessing  # noqa
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+
 setuptools.setup(
-    setup_requires=['pbr'],
+    setup_requires=['pbr>=1.8'],
     pbr=True)
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index a154b0c1..31112c5e 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
+# The order of packages is significant, because pip processes them in the order
+# of appearance. Changing the order has an impact on the overall integration
+# process, which may cause wedges in the gate later.
 # Hacking already pins down pep8, pyflakes and flake8
-hacking>=0.11.0,<0.12  # Apache-2.0
-Babel>=1.3
-coverage>=3.6
-discover
-fixtures>=0.3.14
-httplib2>=0.7.5
-mock>=1.0
-mox>=0.5.3
-nose
-oslotest
-python-subunit>=0.0.18
-testrepository>=0.0.18
-testscenarios>=0.4
-testtools>=0.9.34
+hacking<0.12,>=0.11.0 # Apache-2.0
+Babel>=2.3.4 # BSD
+coverage>=3.6 # Apache-2.0
+discover # BSD
+fixtures>=3.0.0 # Apache-2.0/BSD
+httplib2>=0.7.5 # MIT
+mock>=2.0 # BSD
+mox>=0.5.3 # Apache-2.0
+nose # LGPL
+oslotest>=1.10.0 # Apache-2.0
+python-subunit>=0.0.18 # Apache-2.0/BSD
+testrepository>=0.0.18 # Apache-2.0/BSD
+testscenarios>=0.4 # Apache-2.0/BSD
+testtools>=1.4.0 # MIT