diff --git a/bindep.txt b/bindep.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..426c5db61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindep.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# This is a cross-platform list tracking distribution packages needed by tests;
+# see http://docs.openstack.org/infra/bindep/ for additional information.
+
+mysql-client [test]
+mysql-server [test]
+python-dev [platform:dpkg test]
+python-devel [platform:rpm test]
+zookeeperd [platform:dpkg test]
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index b2bafebb1..cbaa23be1 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ commands =
 [testenv:pep8]
 commands = flake8 nodepool
 
+[testenv:bindep]
+# Do not install any requirements. We want this to be fast and work even if
+# system dependencies are missing, since it's used to tell you what system
+# dependencies are missing! This also means that bindep must be installed
+# separately, outside of the requirements files.
+deps = bindep
+commands = bindep test
+
 [testenv:cover]
 commands =
   python setup.py testr --coverage