diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 709a9ca..66d9cb5 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ To install the required dependencies for pi-gen you should run:
 
 ```bash
 apt-get install quilt parted realpath qemu-user-static debootstrap zerofree pxz zip \
-dosfstools bsdtar libcap2-bin grep rsync xz-utils
+dosfstools bsdtar libcap2-bin grep rsync xz-utils file
 ```
 
 The file `depends` contains a list of tools needed.  The format of this
diff --git a/depends b/depends
index d516533..9261abf 100644
--- a/depends
+++ b/depends
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ rsync
 xz:xz-utils
 curl
 xxd
+file