diff --git a/python/setup.py.in b/python/setup.py.in
index 86fc0fc5c0..aa6771709c 100644
--- a/python/setup.py.in
+++ b/python/setup.py.in
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ setup_requires=["requests",
                 "protobuf==3.1",
                 "recordio",
                 "matplotlib",
-                "rarfile"]
+                "rarfile",
+                "scipy>=0.19.0"]
 
 if '${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR}' not in ['arm', 'armv7-a', 'aarch64']:
     setup_requires+=["opencv-python"]