diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9f7c89ab..1721ddcd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ capabilities, so these can continue to be used by containers.
 
 ## Installation
 
-Ensure you are running Linux (kernel 3.5 or later) and have Docker
+Ensure you are running Linux (kernel 3.8 or later) and have Docker
 (version 1.3.1 or later) installed. Then install weave with
 
     sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/weave \
diff --git a/weave b/weave
index 364d3609..553482a3 100755
--- a/weave
+++ b/weave
@@ -585,8 +585,8 @@ uname -s -r | sed -n -e 's|^\([^ ]*\) \([0-9][0-9]*\)\.\([0-9][0-9]*\).*|\1 \2 \
         exit 1
     fi
 
-    if ! [ \( "$maj" -eq 3 -a "$min" -ge 5 \) -o "$maj" -gt 3 ] ; then
-        echo "WARNING: Linux kernel version 3.5 or newer is required (you have ${maj}.${min})" >&2
+    if ! [ \( "$maj" -eq 3 -a "$min" -ge 8 \) -o "$maj" -gt 3 ] ; then
+        echo "WARNING: Linux kernel version 3.8 or newer is required (you have ${maj}.${min})" >&2
     fi
 }