diff --git a/requirements-db.txt b/requirements-db.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e73d5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements-db.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# requirements for swh.core.db
+psycopg2
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements-http.txt
similarity index 61%
copy from requirements.txt
copy to requirements-http.txt
index e25273a..8be0a3e 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements-http.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
-arrow
+# requirements for swh.core.api
 aiohttp
+arrow
+decorator
+Flask
 msgpack > 0.5
-psycopg2
 python-dateutil
-vcversioner
-PyYAML
 requests
-Flask
-systemd-python
-decorator
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index e25273a..cd36a30 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
+PyYAML
+systemd-python
+
+# these deps below are now handled in dedicated 'extras' and should be removed
+# from this main requirement file ASAP
 arrow
 aiohttp
 msgpack > 0.5
 psycopg2
 python-dateutil
-vcversioner
-PyYAML
 requests
 Flask
-systemd-python
 decorator
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 3166637..dd9de8a
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,73 +1,78 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 # Copyright (C) 2015-2018  The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
 import os
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
 from os import path
 from io import open
 
 here = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))
 
 # Get the long description from the README file
 with open(path.join(here, 'README.md'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
     long_description = f.read()
 
 
-def parse_requirements(name=None):
-    if name:
-        reqf = 'requirements-%s.txt' % name
-    else:
-        reqf = 'requirements.txt'
-
+def parse_requirements(*names):
     requirements = []
-    if not os.path.exists(reqf):
-        return requirements
+    for name in names:
+        if name:
+            reqf = 'requirements-%s.txt' % name
+        else:
+            reqf = 'requirements.txt'
+
+        if not os.path.exists(reqf):
+            return requirements
 
-    with open(reqf) as f:
-        for line in f.readlines():
-            line = line.strip()
-            if not line or line.startswith('#'):
-                continue
-            requirements.append(line)
+        with open(reqf) as f:
+            for line in f.readlines():
+                line = line.strip()
+                if not line or line.startswith('#'):
+                    continue
+                requirements.append(line)
     return requirements
 
 
 setup(
     name='swh.core',
     description='Software Heritage core utilities',
     long_description=long_description,
     long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
     author='Software Heritage developers',
     author_email='swh-devel@inria.fr',
     url='https://forge.softwareheritage.org/diffusion/DCORE/',
     packages=find_packages(),
     scripts=[],
-    install_requires=parse_requirements() + parse_requirements('swh'),
+    install_requires=parse_requirements(None, 'swh'),
     setup_requires=['vcversioner'],
-    extras_require={'testing': parse_requirements('test')},
+    extras_require={
+        'testing': parse_requirements('test', 'db', 'http'),
+        'db': parse_requirements('db'),
+        'http': parse_requirements('http'),
+    },
     vcversioner={},
     include_package_data=True,
     entry_points='''
         [console_scripts]
         swh=swh.core.cli:main
         swh-db-init=swh.core.cli.db:db_init
         [swh.cli.subcommands]
         db-init=swh.core.cli.db:db_init
     ''',
     classifiers=[
         "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
         "Intended Audience :: Developers",
         "License :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3)",
         "Operating System :: OS Independent",
         "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
     ],
     project_urls={
         'Bug Reports': 'https://forge.softwareheritage.org/maniphest',
         'Funding': 'https://www.softwareheritage.org/donate',
         'Source': 'https://forge.softwareheritage.org/source/swh-core',
     },
 )