diff --git a/tests/run_tests.sh b/tests/run_tests.sh
index 9761585..4af18a6 100755
--- a/tests/run_tests.sh
+++ b/tests/run_tests.sh
@@ -37,9 +37,13 @@
 
 setup_virtualenv() {
     log_info "Setting up Python virtualenv"
+    dependency_check virtualenv
     virtualenv $VENV_DIR
     source ${VENV_DIR}/bin/activate
     python -m pip install salt${PIP_SALT_VERSION}
+    if [[ -f ${CURDIR}/test-requirements.txt ]]; then
+       python -m pip install -r ${CURDIR}/test-requirements.txt
+    fi
 }
 
 setup_mock_bin() {
@@ -165,6 +169,13 @@
     done
 }
 
+dependency_check() {
+    local DEPENDENCY_COMMANDS=$*
+    for DEPENDENCY_COMMAND in $DEPENDENCY_COMMANDS; do
+        which $DEPENDENCY_COMMAND > /dev/null || ( log_err "Command \"$DEPENDENCY_COMMAND\" can not be found in default path."; exit 1; )
+    done
+}
+
 _atexit() {
     RETVAL=$?
     trap true INT TERM EXIT
diff --git a/tests/test-requirements.txt b/tests/test-requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc7dc7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+jsonschema
+reno
+setuptools<45.0.0
+msgpack<1.0.0
diff --git a/zookeeper/files/backup/zookeeper-backup-client-runner.sh b/zookeeper/files/backup/zookeeper-backup-client-runner.sh
index fbb72e7..64e5f83 100644
--- a/zookeeper/files/backup/zookeeper-backup-client-runner.sh
+++ b/zookeeper/files/backup/zookeeper-backup-client-runner.sh
@@ -101,10 +101,12 @@
 
         if [ $RC -gt 0 ]; then
             printf "Error generating tar archive.\n"
+            logger -t "MCP_backup $0" "Error generating tar archive."
             [ "$TMPDIR" != "/" ] && rm -rf "$TMPDIR"
             exit 1
         else
             printf "Successfully created a backup tar file.\n"
+            logger -t "MCP_backup $0" "Successfully created a backup tar file."
             [ "$TMPDIR" != "/" ] && rm -rf "$TMPDIR"
         fi
 
@@ -125,8 +127,10 @@
 
     if [ -s $RSYNCLOG ] && ! grep -q "rsync error: " $RSYNCLOG; then
             echo "Rsync to remote host completed OK"
+            logger -t "MCP_backup $0" "Rsync to remote host completed OK"
     else
             echo "Rsync to remote host FAILED"
+            logger -t "MCP_backup $0" "Rsync to remote host FAILED"
             exit 1
     fi