diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3ac727d53f..d79ae2a4df 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ INSTALL_VERSION_TEMPLATE = '''\
 
 from salt.version import SaltStackVersion
 
-__saltstack_version__ = SaltStackVersion{full_version_info!r}
+__saltstack_version__ = SaltStackVersion\'{full_version_info}\'
 '''
 
 
@@ -610,16 +610,16 @@ INSTALL_SYSPATHS_TEMPLATE = '''\
 # This file was auto-generated by salt's setup on \
 {date:%A, %d %B %Y @ %H:%m:%S UTC}.
 
-ROOT_DIR = {root_dir!r}
-CONFIG_DIR = {config_dir!r}
-CACHE_DIR = {cache_dir!r}
-SOCK_DIR = {sock_dir!r}
-SRV_ROOT_DIR= {srv_root_dir!r}
-BASE_FILE_ROOTS_DIR = {base_file_roots_dir!r}
-BASE_PILLAR_ROOTS_DIR = {base_pillar_roots_dir!r}
-BASE_MASTER_ROOTS_DIR = {base_master_roots_dir!r}
-LOGS_DIR = {logs_dir!r}
-PIDFILE_DIR = {pidfile_dir!r}
+ROOT_DIR = \'{root_dir}\'
+CONFIG_DIR = \'{config_dir}\'
+CACHE_DIR = \'{cache_dir}\'
+SOCK_DIR = \'{sock_dir}\'
+SRV_ROOT_DIR = \'{srv_root_dir}\'
+BASE_FILE_ROOTS_DIR = \'{base_file_roots_dir}\'
+BASE_PILLAR_ROOTS_DIR = \'{base_pillar_roots_dir}\'
+BASE_MASTER_ROOTS_DIR = \'{base_master_roots_dir}\'
+LOGS_DIR = \'{logs_dir}\'
+PIDFILE_DIR = \'{pidfile_dir}\'
 '''
 
 
@@ -1179,7 +1179,7 @@ class SaltDistribution(distutils.dist.Distribution):
         if self.salt_transport not in ('zeromq', 'raet', 'both', 'ssh', 'none'):
             raise DistutilsArgError(
                 'The value of --salt-transport needs be \'zeromq\', '
-                '\'raet\', \'both\', \'ssh\' or \'none\' not {0!r}'.format(
+                '\'raet\', \'both\', \'ssh\' or \'none\' not \'{0}\''.format(
                     self.salt_transport
                 )
             )