diff --git a/phpgwapi/inc/functions.inc.php b/phpgwapi/inc/functions.inc.php
index d4c1efcb25..56067e266e 100644
--- a/phpgwapi/inc/functions.inc.php
+++ b/phpgwapi/inc/functions.inc.php
@@ -21,12 +21,17 @@
 
 	error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);
 	magic_quotes_runtime(false);
-
-	if (!function_exists('version_compare'))//version_compare() is only available in PHP4.1+
+	
+	$egw_min_php_version = '4.3';
+	if (!function_exists('version_compare') || version_compare(PHP_VERSION,$egw_min_php_version) < 0)	//version_compare() is only available in PHP4.1+
 	{
-		echo 'eGroupWare requires PHP 4.1 or greater.<br>';
-		echo 'Please contact your System Administrator';
-		exit;
+		die("eGroupWare requires PHP $egw_min_php_version or greater.<br />Please contact your System Administrator to upgrade PHP!");
+	}
+	// check if eGW's pear repository is installed and prefer it over the other ones
+	if (is_dir(EGW_SERVER_ROOT.'/egw-pear'))	
+	{
+		set_include_path(EGW_SERVER_ROOT.'/egw-pear'.PATH_SEPARATOR.get_include_path());
+		//echo "<p align=right>include_path='".get_include_path()."'</p>\n";
 	}
 
 	if (!defined('EGW_API_INC')) define('EGW_API_INC',PHPGW_API_INC);	// this is to support the header upgrade