diff --git a/mopidy/__init__.py b/mopidy/__init__.py
index f6870e22..8b5b8e18 100644
--- a/mopidy/__init__.py
+++ b/mopidy/__init__.py
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@ import platform
 import sys
 import textwrap
 import warnings
-from distutils.version import StrictVersion as SV
-
-import pykka
 
 
 if not (2, 7) <= sys.version_info < (3,):
@@ -14,12 +11,6 @@ if not (2, 7) <= sys.version_info < (3,):
         'ERROR: Mopidy requires Python 2.7, but found %s.' %
         platform.python_version())
 
-if (isinstance(pykka.__version__, basestring)
-        and not SV('1.1') <= SV(pykka.__version__) < SV('2.0')):
-    sys.exit(
-        'ERROR: Mopidy requires Pykka >= 1.1, < 2, but found %s.' %
-        pykka.__version__)
-
 try:
     import gobject   # noqa
 except ImportError: