diff --git a/scripts/lib/check-upstart b/scripts/lib/check-upstart
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..44d92930cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/lib/check-upstart
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+release=$(lsb_release -sc)
+
+if [ "$release" = "xenial" ] && [ -x /sbin/start ] && [ -x /sbin/stop ] && [ -x /sbin/restart ] && [ -x /sbin/status ] && [ -x /sbin/initctl ]; then
+    echo "You appear to be running Ubuntu Xenial, but with the upstart package installed."
+    echo "In Ubuntu Xenial, upstart has been replaced by systemd, and having upstart"
+    echo "installed will break the init scripts for Zulip dependencies like nginx."
+    echo "Please uninstall the \"upstart\" package (apt-get remove upstart) and rerun"
+    echo "this install script."
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/lib/install b/scripts/lib/install
index 023d45e759..9b0565b8aa 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/install
+++ b/scripts/lib/install
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ ZULIP_PATH="$(realpath $(dirname $0)/../..)"
 apt-get -y dist-upgrade $APT_OPTIONS
 apt-get install -y puppet git python python3 python-six python3-six crudini $ADDITIONAL_PACKAGES
 
+# Handle issues around upstart on Ubuntu Xenial
+"$ZULIP_PATH"/scripts/lib/check-upstart
+
 # Create and activate a virtualenv
 if [ "$VIRTUALENV_NEEDED" = "yes" ]; then
     "$ZULIP_PATH"/scripts/lib/create-production-venv "$ZULIP_PATH"
diff --git a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2 b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
index d3a2610d8c..19d723a50e 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
+++ b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ args = parser.parse_args()
 deploy_path = args.deploy_path
 os.chdir(deploy_path)
 
+# Handle issues around upstart on Ubuntu Xenial
+subprocess.check_call(["./scripts/lib/check-upstart"])
+
 if not args.skip_puppet:
     logging.info("Upgrading system packages...")
     subprocess.check_call(["apt-get", "update"])