diff --git a/INSTALL.txt b/INSTALL
similarity index 100%
rename from INSTALL.txt
rename to INSTALL
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE
similarity index 100%
rename from LICENSE.txt
rename to LICENSE
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 3b9fc284b22f4ac070c2deaaba6162cf2ad71ccb..64fcabc7caae394c5e478ace1d9d54fd489dfa7e 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # in addition to the default ones.
 
 include MANIFEST.in
-include INSTALL.txt LICENSE.txt TODO.txt
+include INSTALL LICENSE TODO
 
 # We explicitly include both pyx and c files, so that both are shipped in
 # source tarballs independently of whether "setup.py sdist" is run with
diff --git a/README.txt b/README
similarity index 72%
rename from README.txt
rename to README
index fa69879b16fabe6ed812e7e15199a50b4f0d90e1..a21412cdc9b11e6e296b30e8f7e4f460be9f511c 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@ suitable for calculations of Landauer transport (conductance, noise),
 dispersion relations, modes, wavefunctions, various Green functions, local
 density of states.
 
-See the file INSTALL.txt for installation instructions and LICENSE.txt for
-legal information.  Complete reference documentation and a tutorial are also
+See the file INSTALL for installation instructions and LICENSE for legal
+information.  Complete reference documentation and a tutorial are also
 available.
diff --git a/TODO.txt b/TODO
similarity index 100%
rename from TODO.txt
rename to TODO
diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index bda40fa1b22f128172b3db716e9ba24609f6bf8f..b22d04a69f48abab6bdcdb2a0c2130f15ba172e7 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 kwant documentation
 ===================
 
-.. include:: ../../README.txt
-   :end-before: See the file INSTALL.txt
+.. include:: ../../README
+   :end-before: See the file INSTALL
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
diff --git a/doc/source/install.rst b/doc/source/install.rst
index 442a6adf3e094c49bc6bc537fa9ea4196a057379..fb170ba38934912a93d9d7ad6e62bb26ef1112e2 100644
--- a/doc/source/install.rst
+++ b/doc/source/install.rst
@@ -1 +1 @@
-.. include:: ../../INSTALL.txt
+.. include:: ../../INSTALL
diff --git a/doc/source/license.rst b/doc/source/license.rst
index 96399e5b74f55536c8e6677ef818de48cd4121f6..bced5558975332a0d4ba96b470600a3bf82ff891 100644
--- a/doc/source/license.rst
+++ b/doc/source/license.rst
@@ -1 +1 @@
-.. include:: ../../LICENSE.txt
+.. include:: ../../LICENSE
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6bce54cbabd4e0b6174d0c873984e62d8309e01c..ef029c03c7a76ec97323682e63f3d878bfe7e7b6 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class kwant_build_ext(build_ext):
             print >>sys.stderr, \
 """{0}
 The compilation of kwant has failed.  Please examine the error message
-above and consult the installation instructions in README.txt.
+above and consult the installation instructions in README.
 You might have to customize {1}.
 {0}
 Build configuration was: