diff --git a/build_helpers.py b/build_helpers.py
index 2b52170..3faadd1 100644
--- a/build_helpers.py
+++ b/build_helpers.py
@@ -224,8 +224,9 @@ def package_check(pkg_name, version=None,
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    pkg_name : str
-       name of package as imported into python
+    pkg_name : str or sequence of str
+       name of package as imported into python. Alternative names
+       (e.g. for different versions) may be given in a list.
     version : {None, str}, optional
        minimum version of the package that we require. If None, we don't
        check the version.  Default is None
@@ -260,14 +261,29 @@ def package_check(pkg_name, version=None,
          'version too old': 'You have version %s of package "%s"'
                             ' but we need version >= %s', }
     msgs.update(messages)
-    try:
-        __import__(pkg_name)
-    except ImportError:
+
+    if isinstance(pkg_name, str):
+        names = [pkg_name]
+
+    else:
+        names = pkg_name
+
+    import_ok = False
+    for pkg_name in names:
+        try:
+            __import__(pkg_name)
+        except ImportError:
+            pass
+        else:
+            import_ok = True
+
+    if not import_ok:
         if not optional:
             raise RuntimeError(msgs['missing'] % pkg_name)
         log.warn(msgs['missing opt'] % pkg_name +
                  msgs['opt suffix'])
         return
+
     if not version:
         return
     try:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c9e6d92..0b6290c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -82,7 +82,12 @@ def configuration(parent_package='',top_path=None):
     return config
 
 def _mayavi_version(pkg_name):
-    from enthought.mayavi import version
+    try:
+        from enthought.mayavi import version
+
+    except:
+        from mayavi import version
+
     return version.version
 
 def _cython_version(pkg_name):
@@ -100,7 +105,7 @@ package_check('IPython', INFO.IPYTHON_MIN_VERSION, optional=True,
                         : '%s was not found: '
                         'isfepy will use regular Python shell',
                         'opt suffix' : ''})
-package_check('enthought.mayavi',
+package_check(('enthought.mayavi', 'mayavi'),
               INFO.MAYAVI_MIN_VERSION,
               optional=True,
               version_getter=_mayavi_version)