diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index f0c8e93d4f5..f3494e8be72 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -119,8 +119,6 @@ usedevelop=True
 skipsdist=True
 deps=
     PyYAML
-    # pinning setuptools because of AppVeyor failures, see pypa/setuptools#861
-    setuptools<29.0.0
 commands=
     pytest -rfsxX doc/en
     pytest --doctest-modules {toxinidir}/_pytest