diff --git a/red/api/locales/en-US/editor.json b/red/api/locales/en-US/editor.json
index 76beaee27..153bfb9b7 100644
--- a/red/api/locales/en-US/editor.json
+++ b/red/api/locales/en-US/editor.json
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@
             "lostConnectionReconnect": "Lost connection to server, reconnecting in __time__s.",
             "lostConnectionTry": "Try now",
             "cannotAddSubflowToItself": "Cannot add subflow to itself",
-            "cannotAddCircularReference": "Cannot add subflow - circular reference detected"
+            "cannotAddCircularReference": "Cannot add subflow - circular reference detected",
+            "unsupportedVersion": "Using an unsupported version of Node.js<br/>You should upgrade to the latest Node.js LTS release"
         }
     },
     "clipboard": {
diff --git a/red/red.js b/red/red.js
index 32186508c..fc3485a6f 100644
--- a/red/red.js
+++ b/red/red.js
@@ -27,12 +27,14 @@ var adminApp = null;
 var server = null;
 var apiEnabled = false;
 
-function checkVersion() {
+function checkVersion(userSettings) {
     var semver = require('semver');
     if (!semver.satisfies(process.version,">=4.0.0")) {
-        var e = new Error("Unsupported version of node.js");
-        e.code = "unsupported_version";
-        throw e;
+        // TODO: in the future, make this a hard error.
+        // var e = new Error("Unsupported version of node.js");
+        // e.code = "unsupported_version";
+        // throw e;
+        userSettings.UNSUPPORTED_VERSION = process.version;
     }
 }
 
@@ -55,7 +57,7 @@ module.exports = {
         }
 
         if (!userSettings.SKIP_BUILD_CHECK) {
-            checkVersion();
+            checkVersion(userSettings);
             checkBuild();
         }
 
diff --git a/red/runtime/index.js b/red/runtime/index.js
index 1c95e4ed6..a639b8a80 100644
--- a/red/runtime/index.js
+++ b/red/runtime/index.js
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ function start() {
                 log.info(log._("runtime.version",{component:"Node-RED",version:"v"+settings.version}));
             }
             log.info(log._("runtime.version",{component:"Node.js ",version:process.version}));
+            if (settings.UNSUPPORTED_VERSION) {
+                log.error("*****************************************************************");
+                log.error("* "+log._("runtime.unsupported_version",{component:"Node.js",version:process.version,requires: ">=4"})+" *");
+                log.error("*****************************************************************");
+                events.emit("runtime-event",{id:"runtime-unsupported-version",type:"error",text:"notification.errors.unsupportedVersion"});
+            }
             log.info(os.type()+" "+os.release()+" "+os.arch()+" "+os.endianness());
             return redNodes.load().then(function() {
 
diff --git a/red/runtime/locales/en-US/runtime.json b/red/runtime/locales/en-US/runtime.json
index 6f223a880..703a0b513 100644
--- a/red/runtime/locales/en-US/runtime.json
+++ b/red/runtime/locales/en-US/runtime.json
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
     "runtime": {
         "welcome": "Welcome to Node-RED",
         "version": "__component__ version: __version__",
+        "unsupported_version": "Unsupported version of __component__. Requires: __requires__ Found: __version__",
         "paths": {
             "settings": "Settings file  : __path__"
         }