diff --git a/launch.sh b/launch.sh
index 73b08eac..34fea7b4 100755
--- a/launch.sh
+++ b/launch.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+python3 -c 'import sys;(print("Python 3.4 or newer is required") and exit(1)) if sys.version_info < (3, 4) else exit(0)' || exit 1
 poezio_dir=$(dirname "$0")
 VENV="poezio-venv"
 
diff --git a/update.sh b/update.sh
index d95a1df5..bdf1dc77 100755
--- a/update.sh
+++ b/update.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 # Use launch.sh to start poezio directly from here
 
+python3 -c 'import sys;(print("Python 3.4 or newer is required") and exit(1)) if sys.version_info < (3, 4) else exit(0)' || exit 1
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 VENV="poezio-venv"
 VENV_COMMAND="pyvenv"