diff --git a/pandas/__init__.py b/pandas/__init__.py
index 6351b508fb0e5..5a0ed8701ce93 100644
--- a/pandas/__init__.py
+++ b/pandas/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
 # flake8: noqa
+import sys
+
+if sys.version_info[:3] <= (3, 5, 2):
+    msg = "pandas requires Python >=3.5.3 but {}.{}.{} is installed.".format(
+        *sys.version_info[:3]
+    )
+    raise ImportError(msg)
+
+del sys
 
 __docformat__ = "restructuredtext"
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_downstream.py b/pandas/tests/test_downstream.py
index d644c002fbdfb..bd676428cc85e 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_downstream.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_downstream.py
@@ -150,3 +150,11 @@ def test_missing_required_dependency():
     output = exc.value.stdout.decode()
     for name in ["numpy", "pytz", "dateutil"]:
         assert name in output
+
+
+def test_old_python_raises():
+    code = "import sys; sys.version_info = (3, 5, 2); import pandas"
+    # match = 'pandas requires Python >=3.5.3 but 3.5.2 is installed'
+    out = subprocess.run(["python", "-c", code], check=False, capture_output=True)
+    stderr = out.stderr.decode()
+    assert "pandas requires Python >=3.5.3 but 3.5.2 is installed." in stderr