diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9ff754f..d6c8510 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 #Dependencies
 
-`quilt kpartx realpath qemu-user-static debootstrap zerofree pxz`
+`quilt kpartx realpath qemu-user-static debootstrap zerofree pxz zip`
 
 #Config
 
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 5b745e8..d78fc20 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -156,6 +156,10 @@ export QUILT_NO_DIFF_TIMESTAMPS=1
 export QUILT_REFRESH_ARGS="-p ab"
 
 source ${SCRIPT_DIR}/common
+source ${SCRIPT_DIR}/dependencies_check
+
+
+dependencies_check ${BASE_DIR}/depends
 
 mkdir -p ${WORK_DIR}
 log "Begin ${BASE_DIR}"
diff --git a/depends b/depends
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf8712d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/depends
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+quilt
+qemu-arm-static:qemu-user-static
+debootstrap
+kpartx zerofree
+pxz zip
diff --git a/scripts/dependencies_check b/scripts/dependencies_check
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..269ebd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dependencies_check
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# dependencies_check
+# $@	Dependnecy files to check
+#
+# Each dependency is in the form of a tool to test for, optionally followed by
+# a : and the name of a package if the package on a Debian-ish system is not
+# named for the tool (i.e., qemu-user-static).
+dependencies_check()
+{
+	local depfile deps missing
+
+	for depfile in "$@"; do
+		if [[ -e "$depfile" ]]; then
+			deps=`cat ${BASE_DIR}/depends | tr '\n' ' '`
+		fi
+		for dep in $deps; do
+			if ! hash ${dep%:*} 2>/dev/null; then
+				missing="${missing:+$missing }${dep#*:}"
+			fi
+		done
+	done
+
+	if [[ "$missing" ]]; then
+		echo "Reqired dependencies not installed"
+		echo
+		echo "This can be resolved on Debian/Raspbian systems by installing:"
+		echo "$missing"
+		false
+	fi
+}