diff --git a/requirements.sh b/requirements.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7601ec6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+
+pkgs="ninja-build libglib2.0-dev make gcc g++ pkg-config"
+
+print_requirements(){
+	echo "Required packages (note that these are apt-based package names):"
+	for pkg in $pkgs; do
+		echo "[*] $pkg"
+	done
+}
+
+dpkg_status=$(dpkg-query --help > /dev/null 2>&1)
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+	echo "dpkg-query not available. Probably your current OS is using a package manager different from apt"
+	echo "Please, install the required packages manually, then launch make"
+	echo ""
+	print_requirements
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+for pkg in $pkgs; do
+	status=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${db:Status-Status}' "$pkg" 2>/dev/null | grep -c "installed") 
+	echo ""
+	if [ $? -ne 0 ] || [ $status -eq 0 ]; then
+		echo "$pkg not installed"
+		echo "Attempt to install the missing package. NOTE: SUDO PASSWORD MAY BE REQUESTED"
+		sudo apt-get -y install $pkg
+		if [ $? -eq 0  ]; then
+			echo "$pkg successfully installed"
+		else
+			echo "$pkg installation failed. Please manually install the required packages and retry."
+			print_requirements
+			exit 1
+		fi
+		echo ""
+		echo ""
+	else
+		echo "$pkg already installed"
+	fi
+done