diff --git a/dist/tools/pyterm/pyterm.py b/dist/tools/pyterm/pyterm.py
index 726f339b66..ca22563e93 100755
--- a/dist/tools/pyterm/pyterm.py
+++ b/dist/tools/pyterm/pyterm.py
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python2
+#!/usr/bin/env python
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-import cmd, serial, sys, threading, readline, time, ConfigParser, logging, os
+try:
+    import configparser
+except ImportError:
+    import ConfigParser as configparser
+
+import cmd, serial, sys, threading, readline, time, logging, os
 
 pytermdir     = os.environ['HOME'] + os.path.sep + '.pyterm'
 
@@ -18,8 +23,8 @@ class SerCmd(cmd.Cmd):
             pass
 
                 ### create Logging object
-        my_millis = ("%.4f" % time.time())
-        date_str = '%s.%s' % (time.strftime('%Y%m%d-%H:%M:%S'), my_millis[-4:])
+        my_millis = "{:.4f}".format(time.time())
+        date_str = '{}.{}'.format(time.strftime('%Y%m%d-%H:%M:%S'), my_millis[-4:])
         # create formatter
         fmt_str = '%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s # %(message)s'
         formatter = logging.Formatter(fmt_str)
@@ -60,7 +65,7 @@ class SerCmd(cmd.Cmd):
 
     def complete_date(self, text, line, begidx, endidm):
         date = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
-        return ["%s" % date]
+        return ["{}".format(date)]
 
     def do_reset(self, line):
         self.ser.setDTR(1)
@@ -80,7 +85,7 @@ class SerCmd(cmd.Cmd):
             for alias in self.aliases:
                 self.config.set("aliases", alias, self.aliases[alias])
 
-        with open(path.expanduser('~/.pyterm'), 'wb') as config_fd:
+        with open(os.path.expanduser('~/.pyterm'), 'wb') as config_fd:
             self.config.write(config_fd)
             print("Config saved")
 
@@ -91,7 +96,7 @@ class SerCmd(cmd.Cmd):
     def do_alias(self, line):
         if line.endswith("list"):
             for alias in self.aliases:
-                print("%s = %s" % (alias, self.aliases[alias]))
+                print("{} = {}".format(alias, self.aliases[alias]))
             return
         if not line.count("="):
             sys.stderr.write("Usage: alias <ALIAS> = <CMD>\n")
@@ -109,7 +114,7 @@ class SerCmd(cmd.Cmd):
         return tok
 
     def load_config(self):
-        self.config = ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser()
+        self.config = configparser.SafeConfigParser()
         self.config.read([pytermdir + os.path.sep + 'pyterm.conf'])
 
         for sec in self.config.sections():
@@ -118,7 +123,7 @@ class SerCmd(cmd.Cmd):
                     self.aliases[opt] = self.config.get(sec, opt)
             else:
                 for opt in self.config.options(sec):
-                    if not self.__dict__.has_key(opt):
+                    if opt not in self.__dict__:
                         self.__dict__[opt] = self.config.get(sec, opt)
 
 
diff --git a/dist/tools/pyterm/setup.py b/dist/tools/pyterm/setup.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..06b7b089a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dist/tools/pyterm/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+try:
+    from setuptools import setup
+except ImportError:
+    from distutils.core import setup
+
+setup(name="pyterm",
+      version="1.0",
+      description="Python-based terminal emulator for serial communication",
+      author="Oliver Hahm",
+      author_email="ohahm@fu-berlin.de",
+      url="http://riot-os.org/",
+      install_requires=["pyserial"],
+      scripts=["pyterm.py"])