diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index efa5f8db..396d8429 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env python
 
-descr   = """Image Processing SciKit
+descr = """Image Processing SciKit
 
 Image processing algorithms for SciPy, including IO, morphology, filtering,
 warping, color manipulation, object detection, etc.
@@ -18,8 +18,16 @@ URL                 = 'http://scikits-image.org'
 LICENSE             = 'Modified BSD'
 DOWNLOAD_URL        = 'http://github.com/scikits-image/scikits-image'
 VERSION             = '0.7dev'
+PYTHON_VERSION      = (2, 5)
+DEPENDENCIES        = {
+                        'numpy': (1, 6),
+                        'scipy': (0, 10),
+                        'Cython': (0, 15),
+                      }
+
 
 import os
+import sys
 import setuptools
 from numpy.distutils.core import setup
 try:
@@ -27,6 +35,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     from distutils.command.build_py import build_py
 
+
 def configuration(parent_package='', top_path=None):
     if os.path.exists('MANIFEST'): os.remove('MANIFEST')
 
@@ -44,6 +53,7 @@ def configuration(parent_package='', top_path=None):
 
     return config
 
+
 def write_version_py(filename='skimage/version.py'):
     template = """# THIS FILE IS GENERATED FROM THE SKIMAGE SETUP.PY
 version='%s'
@@ -57,7 +67,46 @@ version='%s'
     finally:
         vfile.close()
 
+
+def get_package_version(package):
+    version = []
+    for version_attr in ('version', 'VERSION', '__version__'):
+        if hasattr(package, version_attr) \
+                and isinstance(getattr(package, version_attr), str):
+            version_info = getattr(package, version_attr)
+            for part in version_info.split('.'):
+                try:
+                    version.append(int(part))
+                except ValueError:
+                    pass
+    return tuple(version)
+
+
+def check_requirements():
+    if sys.version_info < PYTHON_VERSION:
+        raise SystemExit('You need Python version %d.%d or later.' \
+                         % PYTHON_VERSION)
+
+    for package_name, min_version in DEPENDENCIES.items():
+        dep_error = False
+        try:
+            package = __import__(package_name)
+        except ImportError:
+            dep_error = True
+        else:
+            package_version = get_package_version(package)
+            if min_version > package_version:
+                dep_error = True
+
+        if dep_error:
+            raise ImportError('You need `%s` version %d.%d or later.' \
+                              % ((package_name, ) + min_version))
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+
+    check_requirements()
+
     write_version_py()
 
     setup(
@@ -71,32 +120,31 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
         download_url=DOWNLOAD_URL,
         version=VERSION,
 
-        classifiers =
-            [ 'Development Status :: 4 - Beta',
-              'Environment :: Console',
-              'Intended Audience :: Developers',
-              'Intended Audience :: Science/Research',
-              'License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License',
-              'Programming Language :: C',
-              'Programming Language :: Python',
-              'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
-              'Topic :: Scientific/Engineering',
-              'Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows',
-              'Operating System :: POSIX',
-              'Operating System :: Unix',
-              'Operating System :: MacOS',
-              ],
+        classifiers=[
+            'Development Status :: 4 - Beta',
+            'Environment :: Console',
+            'Intended Audience :: Developers',
+            'Intended Audience :: Science/Research',
+            'License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License',
+            'Programming Language :: C',
+            'Programming Language :: Python',
+            'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
+            'Topic :: Scientific/Engineering',
+            'Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows',
+            'Operating System :: POSIX',
+            'Operating System :: Unix',
+            'Operating System :: MacOS',
+        ],
 
         configuration=configuration,
-        install_requires=[],
+
         packages=setuptools.find_packages(),
         include_package_data=True,
         zip_safe=False, # the package can run out of an .egg file
 
         entry_points={
-            'console_scripts': [
-                'skivi = skimage.scripts.skivi:main']
-            },
+            'console_scripts': ['skivi = skimage.scripts.skivi:main'],
+        },
 
         cmdclass={'build_py': build_py},
-        )
+    )