def hide_setuptools():
    """
    Remove references to setuptools' modules from sys.modules to allow the
    invocation to import the most appropriate setuptools. This technique is
    necessary to avoid issues such as #315 where setuptools upgrading itself
    would fail to find a function declared in the metadata.
    """
    _distutils_hack = sys.modules.get('_distutils_hack', None)
    if _distutils_hack is not None:
        _distutils_hack._remove_shim()

    modules = filter(_needs_hiding, sys.modules)
    _clear_modules(modules)

    Remove references to setuptools' modules from sys.modules to allow the
    invocation to import the most appropriate setuptools. This technique is
    necessary to avoid issues such as #315 where setuptools upgrading itself
    would fail to find a function declared in the metadata.
    
product/gradle-plugin/src/main/python/setuptools/sandbox.py