diff --git a/requirements_test.txt b/requirements_test.txt
index d3eb061..6155cb8 100644
--- a/requirements_test.txt
+++ b/requirements_test.txt
@@ -39,4 +39,4 @@ SQLAlchemy==2.0.41
 paho-mqtt==2.1.0
 
 numpy==2.3.2
-
+pycares<5.0.0  # Pin to 4.x until aiodns supports pycares 5.0 breaking changes
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ce1650f..7961594 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -7,7 +7,14 @@
 ]
 with open("requirements_test.txt","r") as f:
     for line in f:
-        if "txt" not in line and "#" not in line:
+        line = line.strip()
+        # Skip empty lines and lines that reference other files
+        if not line or line.startswith("-") or ".txt" in line:
+            continue
+        # Strip inline comments but keep the requirement
+        if "#" in line:
+            line = line.split("#")[0].strip()
+        if line:
             requirements.append(line)
 
 with open("version", "r") as f: