diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 720dc77b9..43a072b24 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -50,6 +50,16 @@ if sys.version_info < (2, 5):
     print('ERROR: Sphinx requires at least Python 2.5 to run.')
     sys.exit(1)
 
+if sys.version_info[:3] >= (3, 3, 0):
+    try:
+        import docutils
+        x, y = docutils.__version__.split('.')[:2]
+        if (int(x), int(y)) < (0, 10):
+            sys.stderr.write('ERROR: Sphinx requires at least '
+                             'Docutils 0.10 for Python 3.3 and above.\n')
+            sys.exit(1)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
 
 # Provide a "compile_catalog" command that also creates the translated
 # JavaScript files if Babel is available.