diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 1498ee4b1..de19797a3 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ SCONS_CONFIGURE_CACHE = 'config.cache'
 SCONF_TEMP_DIR = '.sconf_temp'
 # auto-search directories for boost libs/headers
 BOOST_SEARCH_PREFIXES = ['/usr/local','/opt/local','/sw','/usr',]
-BOOST_MIN_VERSION = '1.47'
+BOOST_MIN_VERSION = '1.61'
 #CAIRO_MIN_VERSION = '1.8.0'
 
 HARFBUZZ_MIN_VERSION = (0, 9, 34)