diff --git a/docs/Makefile b/docs/Makefile
index 133080cdb..1f3f7d76c 100644
--- a/docs/Makefile
+++ b/docs/Makefile
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ help:
 clean:
 	-rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)/*
 
-html: usage api.rst
+html: usage
 	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b html $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/html
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in $(BUILDDIR)/html."
@@ -153,18 +153,3 @@ usage/%.rst.inc: ../borg/archiver.py
 	@borg help $* --usage-only | sed -e 's/^/    /' >> $@
 	@printf "\nDescription\n~~~~~~~~~~~\n" >> $@
 	@borg help $* --epilog-only >> $@
-
-api.rst: Makefile
-	@echo "auto-generating API documentation"
-	@echo "Borg Backup API documentation" > $@
-	@echo "=============================" >> $@
-	@echo "" >> $@
-	@for mod in ../borg/*.pyx ../borg/*.py; do \
-		if echo "$$mod" | grep -q "/_"; then \
-			continue ; \
-		fi ; \
-		printf ".. automodule:: "; \
-		echo "$$mod" | sed "s!\.\./!!;s/\.pyx\?//;s!/!.!"; \
-		echo "    :members:"; \
-		echo "    :undoc-members:"; \
-	done >> $@
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 2e8ed1f18..ffcbac101 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ import os
 import sys
 from glob import glob
 
+from distutils.command.build import build
+from distutils.core import Command
+from distutils.errors import DistutilsOptionError
+
 min_python = (3, 2)
 my_python = sys.version_info
 
@@ -115,8 +119,42 @@ elif not on_rtd:
 
 with open('README.rst', 'r') as fd:
     long_description = fd.read()
+class build_api(Command):
+    description = "generate a basic api.rst file based on the modules available"
 
-cmdclass = {'build_ext': build_ext, 'sdist': Sdist}
+    user_options = [
+        ('output=', 'O', 'output directory'),
+    ]
+    def initialize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def finalize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def run(self):
+        print("auto-generating API documentation")
+        with open("docs/api.rst", "w") as api:
+            api.write("""
+Borg Backup API documentation"
+=============================
+""")
+            for mod in glob('borg/*.py') + glob('borg/*.pyx'):
+                print("examining module %s" % mod)
+                if "/_" not in mod:
+                    api.write("""
+.. automodule:: %s
+    :members:
+    :undoc-members:
+""" % mod)
+
+# (function, predicate), see http://docs.python.org/2/distutils/apiref.html#distutils.cmd.Command.sub_commands
+build.sub_commands.append(('build_api', None))
+
+cmdclass = {
+    'build_ext': build_ext,
+    'build_api': build_api,
+    'sdist': Sdist
+}
 
 ext_modules = []
 if not on_rtd: