diff --git a/changelog.d/221.misc b/changelog.d/221.misc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9e80fc78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/221.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Document on improving static type checking using mypy. Contributed by Omar Mohamed.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 551eefe5..f593e36b 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-import os
+import os.path
+from os import PathLike
+from typing import Union
 
 from setuptools import find_packages, setup
 
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@
 # Used for the long_description.  It's nice, because now 1) we have a top level
 # README file and 2) it's easier to type in the README file than to put a raw
 # string in below ...
-def read(fname):
+def read(fname: Union[str, "PathLike[str]"]) -> str:
     return open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), fname)).read()