diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index da011e14d..0f67a79c1 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 	  incoming connection
 	* added more detailed instrumentation of the disk I/O thread
 
+	* updated compiler to msvc 2008 for python binding
 	* restored default fail_limit to unlimited on all trackers
 	* fixed rate limit bug for DHT
 	* fixed SOCKS5 bug for routing UDP packets
diff --git a/bindings/python/setup.py.in b/bindings/python/setup.py.in
index 79d1a8cef..5514ee8fa 100644
--- a/bindings/python/setup.py.in
+++ b/bindings/python/setup.py.in
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ def arch():
 if platform.system() == 'Windows':
 # on windows, build using bjam and build an installer
 	import shutil
-	if os.system('bjam boost=source link=static geoip=static boost-link=static release msvc-7.1 optimization=space') != 0:
+	# msvc 9.0 (2008) is the official windows compiler for python 2.6
+	# http://docs.python.org/whatsnew/2.6.html#build-and-c-api-changes
+	if os.system('bjam boost=source link=static geoip=static boost-link=static release msvc-9.0 optimization=space') != 0:
 		print 'build failed'
 		sys.exit(1)
 	try: os.mkdir(r'build')