diff --git a/include/sanity_check.php b/include/sanity_check.php
index 3e8832912..5cb556746 100644
--- a/include/sanity_check.php
+++ b/include/sanity_check.php
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 				array_push($errors, "Please don't run this script as root.");
 			}
 
-			if (!(version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.0', '>='))) {
+			if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.0', '<')) {
 				array_push($errors, "PHP version 5.3.0 or newer required.");
 			}
 
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 4d1ff795b..6584d8d2e 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 	// we need a separate check here because functions.php might get parsed
 	// incorrectly before 5.3 because of :: syntax.
-	if (!(version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.0', '>='))) {
+	if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.0', '<')) {
 		print "<b>Fatal Error</b>: PHP version 5.3.0 or newer required.\n";
 		exit;
 	}