diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
index 99049777514..cdfdc243e25 100644
--- a/python/setup.py
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ def get_outputs(self):
         'clean': clean,
         'build_ext': build_ext
     },
-    install_requires=['cython >= 0.23', 'numpy >= 1.9'],
+    install_requires=['cython >= 0.23', 'numpy >= 1.9', 'six >= 1.0.0'],
     description=DESC,
     license='Apache License, Version 2.0',
     maintainer="Apache Arrow Developers",