diff --git a/ognibuild/debian/__init__.py b/ognibuild/debian/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fffa9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ognibuild/debian/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+# Copyright (C) 2018 Jelmer Vernooij <jelmer@jelmer.uk>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
+
+from debian.deb822 import Deb822
+
+from .apt import AptManager
+from .session import Session
+
+
+# TODO(jelmer): move this to debian/
+def satisfy_build_deps(session: Session, tree):
+    source = Deb822(tree.get_file('debian/control'))
+    deps = []
+    for name in ['Build-Depends', 'Build-Depends-Indep', 'Build-Depends-Arch']:
+        try:
+            deps.append(source[name].strip().strip(','))
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+    for name in ['Build-Conflicts', 'Build-Conflicts-Indep',
+                 'Build-Conflicts-Arch']:
+        try:
+            deps.append('Conflicts: ' + source[name])
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+    deps = [
+        dep.strip().strip(',')
+        for dep in deps]
+    apt = AptManager(session)
+    apt.satisfy(deps)