diff --git a/lam/templates/login.php b/lam/templates/login.php
index 9adfeb22..9de4886c 100644
--- a/lam/templates/login.php
+++ b/lam/templates/login.php
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ if (! function_exists('gettext') || !function_exists('_')) {
 if (! function_exists('utf8_decode')) {
 	$criticalErrors[] = array("ERROR", "Your PHP has no XML support!", "Please install the XML extension for PHP.");
 }
+// check if PHP >= 5.2
+if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.2.0') < 0) {
+	$criticalErrors[] = array("ERROR", "LAM needs PHP 5 greater or equal as 5.2.0!", "Please upgrade your PHP installation.");
+}
 // check file permissions
 $writableDirs = array('sess', 'tmp');
 for ($i = 0; $i < sizeof($writableDirs); $i++) {