diff --git a/msfgui b/msfgui
index d76d621efa..ae4d04571d 100755
--- a/msfgui
+++ b/msfgui
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
 # $Revision$
 #
 
+begin
+	require 'msgpack'
+rescue LoadError
+	raise LoadError, "Missing msgpack gem, try 'gem install msgpack' to use MSFGui"
+end
+
 msfbase = __FILE__
 while File.symlink?(msfbase)
 	msfbase = File.expand_path(File.readlink(msfbase), File.dirname(msfbase))