diff --git a/scripts/pkgdep.sh b/scripts/pkgdep.sh
index 2126227dc..7dd6fd088 100755
--- a/scripts/pkgdep.sh
+++ b/scripts/pkgdep.sh
@@ -87,9 +87,8 @@ elif [ -f /etc/debian_version ]; then
 	# Additional dependencies for building docs
 	apt-get install -y doxygen mscgen graphviz
 	# Additional dependencies for SPDK CLI - not available on older Ubuntus
-	if [[ $(lsb_release -rs) > "16.01" ]]; then
-		apt-get install -y python3-configshell-fb python3-pexpect
-	fi
+	apt-get install -y python3-configshell-fb python3-pexpect || echo \
+		"Note: Some SPDK CLI dependencies could not be installed."
 elif [ -f /etc/SuSE-release ]; then
 	zypper install -y gcc gcc-c++ make cunit-devel libaio-devel libopenssl-devel \
 		git-core lcov python-base python-pep8 libuuid-devel sg3_utils pciutils