diff --git a/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage b/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage
index 901fd6b..35d6568 100755
--- a/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage
+++ b/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage
@@ -15,9 +15,12 @@ if [[ ! -f $lockfile ]] ; then
     apt-get -qy dist-upgrade
 
     cd $CI_PROJECT_DIR
-    export BUILD_DEPENDS=`sed 's/\s*|[^,]*,/,/g' debian/control | perl -ne 'next if /^#/; $p=(s/^Build-Depends:\s*/ / or (/^ / and $p)); s/,|\n|\([^)]+\)//mg; print if $p'`
-    apt-get -qy install --no-install-recommends \
-            build-essential dpkg-dev fakeroot git-buildpackage pristine-tar $BUILD_DEPENDS
+    if ! apt-get -qy build-dep $CI_PROJECT_DIR; then
+        # this is running on an older version, like jessie-backports
+        export BUILD_DEPENDS=`sed 's/\s*|[^,]*,/,/g' debian/control | perl -ne 'next if /^#/; $p=(s/^Build-Depends:\s*/ / or (/^ / and $p)); s/,|\n|\([^)]+\)//mg; print if $p'`
+        apt-get -qy install --no-install-recommends \
+                build-essential dpkg-dev fakeroot git-buildpackage pristine-tar $BUILD_DEPENDS
+    fi
     apt-get -qy autoremove --purge
     dpkg-checkbuilddeps
     echo "ensure pristine-tar branch exists and is current"