diff --git a/python/pyspark/mllib/__init__.py b/python/pyspark/mllib/__init__.py
index b11aed2c3afda0c2650bae4ce620ae64c10a498f..acba3a717d21a7c7980c8f085aa4c169b1926311 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/mllib/__init__.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/mllib/__init__.py
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import
 # MLlib currently needs NumPy 1.4+, so complain if lower
 
 import numpy
-if numpy.version.version < '1.4':
+
+ver = [int(x) for x in numpy.version.version.split('.')[:2]]
+if ver < [1, 4]:
     raise Exception("MLlib requires NumPy 1.4+")
 
 __all__ = ['classification', 'clustering', 'feature', 'fpm', 'linalg', 'random',