In issue21153, I explored this problem as well, before being aware of this issue. I had searched for bdist_rpm.

I've since confirmed that the sed approach is viable. For example, the following works around the issue by overriding the install_script with the sed technique:

$ cat > install.txt
python setup.py install -O1 --root=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT --record=INSTALLED_FILES
sed -i -e 's/.*/"\0"/' INSTALLED_FILES

$ python setup.py bdist_rpm --install-script install.txt

I agree that sed can probably be assumed to be present, though it would be nicer not to depend on it.

It may also be possible not to have to list the files explicitly. In reading the rpm docs (http://www.rpm.org/max-rpm/s1-rpm-inside-files-list-directives.html), I discovered that rpm will traverse a directory, adding it and its contents. Perhaps the whole routine of recording installed files and then listing them explicitly can be replaced by simply referencing the build root.