diff --git a/functions b/functions
index 669fa69bd5..dfde7dc551 100644
--- a/functions
+++ b/functions
@@ -1413,6 +1413,10 @@ function get_pip_command() {
     else
         which pip
     fi
+
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        die $LINENO "Unable to find pip; cannot continue"
+    fi
 }
 
 # Path permissions sanity check
diff --git a/stack.sh b/stack.sh
index 9a7f2ab693..99c630c9da 100755
--- a/stack.sh
+++ b/stack.sh
@@ -51,13 +51,24 @@ fi
 # Installing Open vSwitch on RHEL6 requires enabling the RDO repo.
 RHEL6_RDO_REPO_RPM=${RHEL6_RDO_REPO_RPM:-"http://rdo.fedorapeople.org/openstack/openstack-grizzly/rdo-release-grizzly-3.noarch.rpm"}
 RHEL6_RDO_REPO_ID=${RHEL6_RDO_REPO_ID:-"openstack-grizzly"}
+# RHEL6 requires EPEL for many Open Stack dependencies
+RHEL6_EPEL_RPM=${RHEL6_EPEL_RPM:-"http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm"}
+
 if [[ is_fedora && $DISTRO =~ (rhel6) ]]; then
+
     if ! yum repolist enabled $RHEL6_RDO_REPO_ID | grep -q $RHEL6_RDO_REPO_ID; then
         echo "RDO repo not detected; installing"
-        yum_install $RHEL6_RDO_REPO_RPM
+        yum_install $RHEL6_RDO_REPO_RPM || \
+            die $LINENO "Error installing RDO repo, cannot continue"
     fi
-fi
 
+    if ! yum repolist enabled epel | grep -q 'epel'; then
+        echo "EPEL not detected; installing"
+        yum_install ${RHEL6_EPEL_RPM} || \
+            die $LINENO "Error installing EPEL repo, cannot continue"
+    fi
+
+fi
 
 # Global Settings
 # ===============