diff --git a/common/optional_dependencies.py b/common/optional_dependencies.py
index 0c1e7ff..b449c2e 100644
--- a/common/optional_dependencies.py
+++ b/common/optional_dependencies.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class DependenciesModel(BaseModel):
     @computed_field
     @property
     def inference(self) -> bool:
-        return self.torch and (self.exllamav2 or self.exllamav3) and self.flash_attn
+        return self.torch and (self.exllamav2 or (self.exllamav3 and self.flash_attn))
 
 
 def is_installed(package_name: str) -> bool:
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index df4e472..0115421 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from common.auth import load_auth_keys
 from common.actions import run_subcommand
 from common.logger import setup_logger
 from common.networking import is_port_in_use
+from common.optional_dependencies import dependencies
 from common.signals import signal_handler
 from common.tabby_config import config
 from endpoints.server import start_api
@@ -139,8 +140,21 @@ def entrypoint(
             "UNSAFE: Skipping ExllamaV2 version check.\n"
             "If you aren't a developer, please keep this off!"
         )
-    else:
-        check_exllama_version()
+    elif not dependencies.inference:
+        install_message = (
+            f"ERROR: Inference dependencies for TabbyAPI are not installed.\n"
+            "Please update your environment by running an update script "
+            "(update_scripts/"
+            f"update_deps.{'bat' if platform.system() == 'Windows' else 'sh'})\n\n"
+            "Or you can manually run a requirements update "
+            "using the following command:\n\n"
+            "For CUDA 12.1:\n"
+            "pip install --upgrade .[cu121]\n\n"
+            "For ROCm:\n"
+            "pip install --upgrade .[amd]\n\n"
+        )
+
+        raise SystemExit(install_message)
 
     # Enable CUDA malloc backend
     if config.developer.cuda_malloc_backend: