diff --git a/.idea/dictionaries/develar.xml b/.idea/dictionaries/develar.xml
index b1c442d8da3..d5b950c11cf 100644
--- a/.idea/dictionaries/develar.xml
+++ b/.idea/dictionaries/develar.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@
       <w>globaldots</w>
       <w>globby</w>
       <w>hicolor</w>
+      <w>libappindicator</w>
       <w>libgcrypt</w>
+      <w>libnotify</w>
       <w>lzma</w>
       <w>makedeb</w>
       <w>mkdirp</w>
diff --git a/docs/Options.md b/docs/Options.md
index ec953e67324..e19a0508a67 100644
--- a/docs/Options.md
+++ b/docs/Options.md
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ MAS (Mac Application Store) specific options (in addition to `build.osx`).
 | maintainer | <a name="LinuxBuildOptions-maintainer"></a>The maintainer. Defaults to [author](#AppMetadata-author).
 | vendor | <a name="LinuxBuildOptions-vendor"></a>The vendor. Defaults to [author](#AppMetadata-author).
 | compression | <a name="LinuxBuildOptions-compression"></a>*deb-only.* The compression type, one of `gz`, `bzip2`, `xz` (default: `xz`).
+| depends | <a name="LinuxBuildOptions-depends"></a>Package dependencies. Defaults to `["libappindicator1", "libnotify"]`.
 
 <a name="MetadataDirectories"></a>
 ## `.directories`
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 41a595fb0ac..1017cc7b678 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
     "debug": "^2.2.0",
     "deep-assign": "^2.0.0",
     "electron-osx-sign-tf": "0.4.0-beta.0",
-    "electron-packager-tf": "^7.0.2-beta.0",
+    "electron-packager-tf": "~7.1.0",
     "electron-winstaller-fixed": "~2.8.2",
     "fs-extra-p": "^1.0.1",
     "globby": "^4.0.0",
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
     "ts-babel": "^0.8.6",
     "tsconfig-glob": "^0.4.3",
     "tslint": "3.10.0-dev.1",
-    "typescript": "1.9.0-dev.20160513",
+    "typescript": "1.9.0-dev.20160515",
     "whitespace": "^2.0.0"
   },
   "babel": {
diff --git a/src/linuxPackager.ts b/src/linuxPackager.ts
index bc968461272..518701102d6 100755
--- a/src/linuxPackager.ts
+++ b/src/linuxPackager.ts
@@ -214,6 +214,23 @@ Icon=${this.metadata.name}
       "--url", projectUrl,
     ]
 
+    let depends = options.depends
+    if (depends == null) {
+      depends = ["libappindicator1", "libnotify"]
+    }
+    else if (!Array.isArray(depends)) {
+      if (typeof depends === "string") {
+        depends = [<string>depends]
+      }
+      else {
+        throw new Error(`depends must be Array or String, but specified as: ${depends}`)
+      }
+    }
+
+    for (let dep of depends) {
+      args.push("--depends", dep)
+    }
+
     use(this.metadata.license || this.devMetadata.license, it => args.push("--license", it!))
     use(this.computeBuildNumber(), it => args.push("--iteration", it!))
 
diff --git a/src/metadata.ts b/src/metadata.ts
index eb0cb011202..ab6f8d609b8 100755
--- a/src/metadata.ts
+++ b/src/metadata.ts
@@ -283,6 +283,11 @@ export interface LinuxBuildOptions {
   *deb-only.* The compression type, one of `gz`, `bzip2`, `xz` (default: `xz`).
    */
   readonly compression?: string | null
+
+  /*
+   Package dependencies. Defaults to `["libappindicator1", "libnotify"]`.
+   */
+  readonly depends?: string[] | null
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/test/src/helpers/packTester.ts b/test/src/helpers/packTester.ts
index 0d2835ccc01..e01b02a6b74 100755
--- a/test/src/helpers/packTester.ts
+++ b/test/src/helpers/packTester.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ interface AssertPackOptions {
   readonly packed?: (projectDir: string) => Promise<any>
   readonly expectedContents?: Array<string>
   readonly expectedArtifacts?: Array<string>
+
+  readonly expectedDepends?: string
 }
 
 export async function assertPack(fixtureName: string, packagerOptions: PackagerOptions, checkOptions?: AssertPackOptions): Promise<void> {
@@ -104,7 +106,7 @@ async function packAndCheck(projectDir: string, packagerOptions: PackagerOptions
       await checkOsXResult(packager, packagerOptions, checkOptions, artifacts.get(Platform.OSX))
     }
     else if (platform === Platform.LINUX) {
-      await checkLinuxResult(projectDir, packager, packagerOptions)
+      await checkLinuxResult(projectDir, packager, packagerOptions, checkOptions)
     }
     else if (platform === Platform.WINDOWS) {
       await checkWindowsResult(packager, packagerOptions, checkOptions, artifacts.get(Platform.WINDOWS))
@@ -112,7 +114,7 @@ async function packAndCheck(projectDir: string, packagerOptions: PackagerOptions
   }
 }
 
-async function checkLinuxResult(projectDir: string, packager: Packager, packagerOptions: PackagerOptions) {
+async function checkLinuxResult(projectDir: string, packager: Packager, packagerOptions: PackagerOptions, checkOptions: AssertPackOptions) {
   const productName = getProductName(packager.metadata, packager.devMetadata)
   const expectedContents = expectedLinuxContents.map(it => {
     if (it === "/opt/TestApp/TestApp") {
@@ -142,6 +144,7 @@ async function checkLinuxResult(projectDir: string, packager: Packager, packager
     Vendor: "Foo Bar <foo@example.com>",
     Package: "testapp",
     Description: " \n   Test Application (test quite \" #378)",
+    Depends: checkOptions == null || checkOptions.expectedDepends == null ? "libappindicator1, libnotify" : checkOptions.expectedDepends,
   })
 }
 
diff --git a/test/src/linuxPackagerTest.ts b/test/src/linuxPackagerTest.ts
index b17221f0e60..1d853c86880 100755
--- a/test/src/linuxPackagerTest.ts
+++ b/test/src/linuxPackagerTest.ts
@@ -9,11 +9,25 @@ const __awaiter = require("out/awaiter")
 
 test.ifNotWindows("linux", () => assertPack("test-app-one", platform(Platform.LINUX)))
 
-test.ifNotWindows("linux - icons from ICNS", async () => {
-  await assertPack("test-app-one", {
+test.ifNotWindows("icons from ICNS", () => assertPack("test-app-one", {
+  platform: [Platform.LINUX],
+}, {
+  tempDirCreated: it => remove(path.join(it, "build", "icons"))
+}))
+
+test.ifNotWindows("custom configuration", () => assertPack("test-app-one", {
     platform: [Platform.LINUX],
-  }, {tempDirCreated: (projectDir) => remove(path.join(projectDir, "build", "icons"))})
-})
+    devMetadata: {
+      build: {
+        linux: {
+          depends: ["foo"],
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    expectedDepends: "foo"
+  }))
 
 test.ifNotWindows("no-author-email", t => {
   t.throws(assertPack("test-app-one", platform(Platform.LINUX), {