Index: setup.py
===================================================================
--- setup.py	(Revision 95)
+++ setup.py	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -46,11 +46,16 @@
 """.splitlines()))
 
 
-BUILD_EXT_WARNING="""\
-WARNING: The C extension could not be compiled, speedups are not enabled.
+speedups = Feature(
+    "options C speed-enhancement modules",
+    standard=True,
+    ext_modules = [
+        Extension("simplejson._speedups", ["simplejson/_speedups.c"]),
+    ],
+)
 
-Below is the output showing how the compilation failed:
-"""
+class BuildFailed(Exception):
+    pass
 
 class ve_build_ext(build_ext):
     # This class allows C extension building to fail.
@@ -59,42 +64,51 @@
         try:
             build_ext.run(self)
         except DistutilsPlatformError, x:
-            self._unavailable(x)
+            raise BuildFailed()
 
     def build_extension(self, ext):
         try:
             build_ext.build_extension(self, ext)
         except (CCompilerError, DistutilsExecError), x:
-           self._unavailable(x)
+            raise BuildFailed()
 
-    def _unavailable(self, exc):
-         print '*'*70
-         print BUILD_EXT_WARNING
-         print exc
-         print '*'*70
+def run_setup(with_binary):
+    if with_binary:
+        features = {'speedups': speedups}
+    else:
+        features = {}
 
-speedups = Feature(
-    "options C speed-enhancement modules",
-    standard=True,
-    ext_modules = [
-        Extension("simplejson._speedups", ["simplejson/_speedups.c"]),
-    ],
-)
+    setup(
+        name="simplejson",
+        version=VERSION,
+        description=DESCRIPTION,
+        long_description=LONG_DESCRIPTION,
+        classifiers=CLASSIFIERS,
+        author="Bob Ippolito",
+        author_email="bob@redivi.com",
+        url="http://undefined.org/python/#simplejson",
+        license="MIT License",
+        packages=find_packages(exclude=['ez_setup']),
+        platforms=['any'],
+        test_suite="simplejson.tests",
+        zip_safe=True,
+        features=features,
+        cmdclass={'build_ext': ve_build_ext},
+    )
 
-setup(
-    name="simplejson",
-    version=VERSION,
-    description=DESCRIPTION,
-    long_description=LONG_DESCRIPTION,
-    classifiers=CLASSIFIERS,
-    author="Bob Ippolito",
-    author_email="bob@redivi.com",
-    url="http://undefined.org/python/#simplejson",
-    license="MIT License",
-    packages=find_packages(exclude=['ez_setup']),
-    platforms=['any'],
-    test_suite="simplejson.tests",
-    zip_safe=True,
-    features={'speedups': speedups},
-    cmdclass={'build_ext': ve_build_ext},
-)
+try:
+    run_setup(True)
+except BuildFailed:
+    BUILD_EXT_WARNING = "WARNING: The C extension could not be compiled, speedups are not enabled."
+    print '*' * 75
+    print BUILD_EXT_WARNING
+    print "Failure information, if any, is above."
+    print "I'm retrying the build without the C extension now."
+    print '*' * 75
+
+    run_setup(False)
+
+    print '*' * 75
+    print BUILD_EXT_WARNING
+    print "Plain-Python installation succeeded."
+    print '*' * 75