diff --git a/tools/startup.py b/tools/startup.py
index e137faf9b2f..4f5b86f7c00 100644
--- a/tools/startup.py
+++ b/tools/startup.py
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@
 except ImportError:
     print "you should install numpy before continuing"
 
+print "checking for scipy"
+try:
+    import scipy
+except:
+    print "you should install scipy before continuing"
+
 print "checking for sklearn"
 try:
     import sklearn