diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ac94abc..e5311f2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -24,12 +24,19 @@
 # weedle (16aug06) - 1.6.2
 
 
+ifeq ($(wildcard /sbin/md5),/sbin/md5)
+# os x
+MD5SUM := /sbin/md5
+else
+MD5SUM := md5sum
+endif
+
 release: docs
 	python ./setup.py sdist --formats=zip
 	python ./setup.py sdist --formats=gztar
 	python ./setup.py bdist_egg
 	zip -r dist/docs.zip docs && rm -rf docs
-	cd dist && md5 paramiko*.zip *.gz > md5-sums
+	cd dist && $(MD5SUM) paramiko*.zip *.gz > md5-sums
 	
 
 docs: always
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index acfa65c..9650c4c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Required packages:
 #import ez_setup
 #ez_setup.use_setuptools()
 
+import sys
 try:
     from setuptools import setup
     kw = {
@@ -40,6 +41,11 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     from distutils.core import setup
     kw = {}
+    
+if sys.platform == 'darwin':
+	import setup_helper
+	setup_helper.install_custom_make_tarball()
+
 
 setup(name = "paramiko",
       version = "1.6.2",
diff --git a/setup_helper.py b/setup_helper.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32609dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup_helper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2003-2006 Robey Pointer <robey@lag.net>
+#
+# This file is part of paramiko.
+#
+# Paramiko is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+# terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
+# Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option)
+# any later version.
+#
+# Paramiko is distrubuted in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
+# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more
+# details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+# along with Paramiko; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+# 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA.
+
+"""A small set of helper functions for dealing with setup issues"""
+
+import os
+import tarfile
+
+from distutils import log
+import distutils.archive_util
+from distutils.dir_util import mkpath
+from distutils.spawn import spawn
+
+
+def make_tarball(base_name, base_dir, compress='gzip',
+                 verbose=False, dry_run=False):
+    """Create a tar file from all the files under 'base_dir'.
+    This file may be compressed.
+
+    :param compress: Compression algorithms. Supported algorithms are:
+        'gzip': (the default)
+        'compress'
+        'bzip2'
+        None
+    For 'gzip' and 'bzip2' the internal tarfile module will be used.
+    For 'compress' the .tar will be created using tarfile, and then
+    we will spawn 'compress' afterwards.
+    The output tar file will be named 'base_name' + ".tar", 
+    possibly plus the appropriate compression extension (".gz",
+    ".bz2" or ".Z").  Return the output filename.
+    """
+    # XXX GNU tar 1.13 has a nifty option to add a prefix directory.
+    # It's pretty new, though, so we certainly can't require it --
+    # but it would be nice to take advantage of it to skip the
+    # "create a tree of hardlinks" step!  (Would also be nice to
+    # detect GNU tar to use its 'z' option and save a step.)
+
+    compress_ext = { 'gzip': ".gz",
+                     'bzip2': '.bz2',
+                     'compress': ".Z" }
+
+    # flags for compression program, each element of list will be an argument
+    tarfile_compress_flag = {'gzip':'gz', 'bzip2':'bz2'}
+    compress_flags = {'compress': ["-f"]}
+
+    if compress is not None and compress not in compress_ext.keys():
+        raise ValueError("bad value for 'compress': must be None, 'gzip',"
+                         "'bzip2' or 'compress'")
+
+    archive_name = base_name + ".tar"
+    if compress and compress in tarfile_compress_flag:
+        archive_name += compress_ext[compress]
+
+    mode = 'w:' + tarfile_compress_flag.get(compress, '')
+
+    mkpath(os.path.dirname(archive_name), dry_run=dry_run)
+    log.info('Creating tar file %s with mode %s' % (archive_name, mode))
+
+    if not dry_run:
+        tar = tarfile.open(archive_name, mode=mode)
+        # This recursively adds everything underneath base_dir
+        tar.add(base_dir)
+        tar.close()
+
+    if compress and compress not in tarfile_compress_flag:
+        spawn([compress] + compress_flags[compress] + [archive_name],
+              dry_run=dry_run)
+        return archive_name + compress_ext[compress]
+    else:
+        return archive_name
+
+
+_custom_formats = {
+    'gztar': (make_tarball, [('compress', 'gzip')], "gzip'ed tar-file"),
+    'bztar': (make_tarball, [('compress', 'bzip2')], "bzip2'ed tar-file"),
+    'ztar':  (make_tarball, [('compress', 'compress')], "compressed tar file"),
+    'tar':   (make_tarball, [('compress', None)], "uncompressed tar file"),
+}
+
+# Hack in and insert ourselves into the distutils code base
+def install_custom_make_tarball():
+    distutils.archive_util.ARCHIVE_FORMATS.update(_custom_formats)
+