diff --git a/bindep.txt b/bindep.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f52646e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindep.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# This is a cross-platform list tracking distribution packages needed for install and tests;
+# see https://docs.openstack.org/infra/bindep/ for additional information.
+
+build-essential [platform:dpkg test]
+gcc [platform:rpm test]
+libxml2-dev [platform:dpkg test]
+libxslt1-dev [platform:dpkg test]
+libxslt-devel [platform:rpm test]
+python-dev [platform:dpkg test]
+python-devel [platform:rpm test]
+python3-dev [platform:dpkg test]
+python3-devel [platform:rpm test]
+libpcre3-dev [platform:dpkg test]
+pcre-devel [platform:rpm test]
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index cb830c56..e01f7f82 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -62,6 +62,16 @@ local-check-factory = oslo_vmware.hacking.checks.factory
 basepython = python3
 commands = sphinx-build -a -E -W -d releasenotes/build/doctrees -b html releasenotes/source releasenotes/build/html
 
+[testenv:bindep]
+basepython = python3
+# Do not install any requirements. We want this to be fast and work even if
+# system dependencies are missing, since it's used to tell you what system
+# dependencies are missing! This also means that bindep must be installed
+# separately, outside of the requirements files, and develop mode disabled
+# explicitly to avoid unnecessarily installing the checked-out repo too.
+deps = bindep
+commands = bindep test
+
 [testenv:lower-constraints]
 basepython = python3
 deps =