diff --git a/app.js b/app.js
index cd0a566fa4..bb81d91698 100644
--- a/app.js
+++ b/app.js
@@ -182,16 +182,13 @@ function start() {
 		function(next) {
 			require('./src/meta').configs.init(next);
 		},
+		function(next) {
+			return next(new Error('dependencies-out-of-date'));
+		},
 		function(next) {
 			require('./src/upgrade').check(next);
 		},
-		function(schema_ok, next) {
-			if (!schema_ok && nconf.get('check-schema') !== false) {
-				winston.warn('Your NodeBB schema is out-of-date. Please run the following command to bring your dataset up to spec:');
-				winston.warn('    ./nodebb upgrade');
-				process.exit();
-				return;
-			}
+		function(next) {
 			var webserver = require('./src/webserver');
 			require('./src/socket.io').init(webserver.server);
 
@@ -204,12 +201,25 @@ function start() {
 		}
 	], function(err) {
 		if (err) {
-			if (err.stacktrace !== false) {
-				winston.error(err.stack);
-			} else {
-				winston.error(err.message);
+			switch(err.message) {
+				case 'schema-out-of-date':
+					winston.warn('Your NodeBB schema is out-of-date. Please run the following command to bring your dataset up to spec:');
+					winston.warn('    ./nodebb upgrade');
+					break;
+				case 'dependencies-out-of-date':
+					winston.warn('One or more of NodeBB\'s dependent packages are out-of-date. Please run the following command to update them:');
+					winston.warn('    ./nodebb upgrade');
+					break;
+				default:
+					if (err.stacktrace !== false) {
+						winston.error(err.stack);
+					} else {
+						winston.error(err.message);
+					}
+					break;
 			}
 
+			// Either way, bad stuff happened. Abort start.
 			process.exit();
 		}
 	});
diff --git a/src/upgrade.js b/src/upgrade.js
index 1fdbd984f7..33f8dccd1c 100644
--- a/src/upgrade.js
+++ b/src/upgrade.js
@@ -34,12 +34,13 @@ Upgrade.check = function(callback) {
 				if (err) {
 					return callback(err);
 				}
-				callback(null, true);
+				callback(null);
 			});
 			return;
 		}
 
-		callback(null, parseInt(value, 10) >= latestSchema);
+		var schema_ok = parseInt(value, 10) >= latestSchema;
+		callback(!schema_ok ? new Error('schema-out-of-date') : null);
 	});
 };