diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 5011dba8..542fb381 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ ostree (2016.4-1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
     - debian/copyright: update
   * debian/gbp.conf: use DEP-14 branch names
   * Fix ITP bug number in changelog (was #813308, should have been #697477)
+  * debian/control: build-depend on attr, for the tests (only required if
+    /var/tmp supports extended attributes)
 
  -- Simon McVittie <smcv@debian.org>  Mon, 28 Mar 2016 12:02:59 +0100
 
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index a290bc75..3827a3e1 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Uploaders:
  Matthias Klumpp <mak@debian.org>,
  Simon McVittie <smcv@debian.org>,
 Build-Depends:
+ attr,
  bison,
  debhelper (>= 9),
  dh-autoreconf,