diff --git a/scripts/checkdeps b/scripts/checkdeps
index 67284917e6..8a95e9f414 100755
--- a/scripts/checkdeps
+++ b/scripts/checkdeps
@@ -70,6 +70,14 @@ if [ -n "$EXTRA_DEPS_PKG" ] ; then
   deps_pkg="$deps_pkg $EXTRA_DEPS_PKG"
 fi
 
+# distro specific dependencies
+if [ -n "$DISTRO_DEPS" ] ; then
+  deps="$deps $DISTRO_DEPS"
+fi
+if [ -n "$DISTRO_DEPS_PKG" ] ; then
+  deps_pkg="$deps_pkg $DISTRO_DEPS_PKG"
+fi
+
 getarg() {
   eval echo \${$(($1+2))}
 }