diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index cdb37d9c..02663755 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 from setuptools.command.test import test as TestCommand
 
 # we only support Python 3 version >= 3.4
-if sys.version_info < (3, 4):
+if len(sys.argv) >= 2 and sys.argv[1] == "install" and sys.version_info < (3, 4):
     raise SystemExit("Python 3.4 or higher is required")