diff --git a/platformio/exception.py b/platformio/exception.py
index 5c8f93a6..5f7abe7f 100644
--- a/platformio/exception.py
+++ b/platformio/exception.py
@@ -227,3 +227,10 @@ class CygwinEnvDetected(PlatformioException):
 
     MESSAGE = "PlatformIO does not work within Cygwin environment. "\
         "Use native Terminal instead."
+
+
+class ZeroconfIsNotInstalled(PlatformioException):
+
+    MESSAGE = "Python multicast DNS service discovery library has not been "\
+              "installed automatically. Please open terminal and run \n"\
+              "> pip install zeroconf"
diff --git a/platformio/util.py b/platformio/util.py
index 0669aaad..7ab4ed7a 100644
--- a/platformio/util.py
+++ b/platformio/util.py
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ from time import sleep, time
 
 import click
 import requests
-import zeroconf
 
 from platformio import __apiurl__, __version__, exception
 
@@ -493,6 +492,10 @@ get_logicaldisks = lambda: [{
 
 
 def get_mdns_services():
+    try:
+        import zeroconf
+    except ImportError:
+        raise exception.ZeroconfIsNotInstalled()
 
     class mDNSListener(object):
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 11476caa..b0f442e0 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from os.path import normpath
 from setuptools import find_packages, setup
 
 from platformio import (__author__, __description__, __email__, __license__,
@@ -25,9 +28,21 @@ install_requires = [
     "lockfile>=0.9.1,<0.13",
     "pyserial>=3,<4,!=3.3",
     "requests>=2.4.0,<3",
-    "semantic_version>=2.5.0,<3",
-    "zeroconf<=0.19.1"
+    "semantic_version>=2.5.0,<3"
 ]
+zeroconf_requirement = "zeroconf<=0.19.1"
+
+try:
+    import zeroconf  # pylint: disable=unused-import
+except ImportError:
+    try:
+        subprocess.check_call([
+            normpath(sys.executable), "-m", "pip", "install",
+            zeroconf_requirement
+        ])
+        install_requires.append(zeroconf_requirement)
+    except:  # pylint: disable=bare-except
+        pass
 
 setup(
     name=__title__,