diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/main.js b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/main.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/build/Release/native.node b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/build/Release/native.node
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/main.js b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/main.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..97f5c264e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/main.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+throw new Error("this simulates a native module's failure to load")
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/package.json b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cac262cba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/node_modules/native-module/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "name": "native-module",
+  "main": "./main.js"
+}
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/package.json b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f1d6fca7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "name": "package-with-incompatible-native-module",
+  "main": "./main.js"
+}
diff --git a/spec/package-spec.coffee b/spec/package-spec.coffee
index e5b473930..70469d367 100644
--- a/spec/package-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/package-spec.coffee
@@ -1,8 +1,17 @@
 {$} = require 'atom'
 path = require 'path'
+Package = require '../src/package'
 ThemePackage = require '../src/theme-package'
 
 describe "Package", ->
+  describe "when the package contains incompatible native modules", ->
+    it "does not activate it", ->
+      packagePath = atom.project.resolve('packages/package-with-incompatible-native-module')
+      pack = new Package(packagePath)
+      expect(pack.isCompatible()).toBe false
+      expect(pack.incompatibleModules[0].name).toBe 'native-module'
+      expect(pack.incompatibleModules[0].path).toBe path.join(packagePath, 'node_modules', 'native-module')
+
   describe "theme", ->
     theme = null
 
diff --git a/src/package-manager.coffee b/src/package-manager.coffee
index 0a4e2457b..c962a0236 100644
--- a/src/package-manager.coffee
+++ b/src/package-manager.coffee
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class PackageManager
 
     @loadedPackages = {}
     @activePackages = {}
+    @incompatiblePackages = {}
     @packageStates = {}
 
     @packageActivators = []
@@ -159,6 +160,7 @@ class PackageManager
           pack = new Package(packagePath, metadata)
         pack.load()
         @loadedPackages[pack.name] = pack
+        @incompatiblePackages[pack.name] = pack unless pack.isCompatible()
         pack
       catch error
         console.warn "Failed to load package.json '#{path.basename(packagePath)}'", error.stack ? error
diff --git a/src/package.coffee b/src/package.coffee
index 53921a609..64ddf1204 100644
--- a/src/package.coffee
+++ b/src/package.coffee
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ class Package
 
   requireMainModule: ->
     return @mainModule if @mainModule?
+    return unless @isCompatible()
     mainModulePath = @getMainModulePath()
     @mainModule = require(mainModulePath) if fs.isFileSync(mainModulePath)
 
@@ -340,3 +341,54 @@ class Package
     for eventHandler in eventHandlers
       eventHandler.handler = eventHandler.disabledHandler
       delete eventHandler.disabledHandler
+
+  containsNativeModule: (modulePath) ->
+    try
+      fs.listSync(path.join(modulePath, 'build', 'Release'), ['.node']).length > 0
+    catch error
+      false
+
+  getNativeModuleDependencyPaths: ->
+    nativeModulePaths = []
+
+    traversePath = (nodeModulesPath) =>
+      try
+        for modulePath in fs.listSync(nodeModulesPath)
+          if @containsNativeModule(modulePath)
+            nativeModulePaths.push(modulePath)
+          traversePath(path.join(modulePath, 'node_modules'))
+
+    traversePath(path.join(@path, 'node_modules'))
+    nativeModulePaths
+
+  getIncompatibleNativeModules: ->
+    incompatibleNativeModules = []
+
+    for nativeModulePath in @getNativeModuleDependencyPaths()
+      try
+        require(nativeModulePath)
+      catch error
+        incompatibleNativeModules.push
+          path: nativeModulePath
+          name: path.basename(nativeModulePath)
+          error: error
+
+    incompatibleNativeModules
+
+  # Public: Is this package compatible with this version of Atom?
+  # Incompatible packages cannot be activated.
+  #
+  # Returns a {Boolean}, true if compatible, false if incompatible.
+  isCompatible: ->
+    return @compatible if @compatible?
+
+    # Bundled packages are always considered compatible
+    if @path.indexOf(path.join(atom.packages.resourcePath, 'node_modules') + path.sep) is 0
+      @compatible = true
+      return
+
+    if packageMain = @getMainModulePath()
+      @incompatibleModules = @getIncompatibleNativeModules()
+      @compatible = @incompatibleModules.length is 0
+    else
+      @compatible = true