diff --git a/orc.changes b/orc.changes
index 41abde5..af5453f 100644
--- a/orc.changes
+++ b/orc.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Thu Oct  9 13:41:02 UTC 2014 - dimstar@opensuse.org
+
+- Add xz BuildRequires for openSUSE < 11.3 (and thus also SLE11).
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Tue Sep 23 20:58:44 UTC 2014 - zaitor@opensuse.org
 
diff --git a/orc.spec b/orc.spec
index 5779c34..27cc42a 100644
--- a/orc.spec
+++ b/orc.spec
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ Source:         http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/orc/%{name}-%{version}.tar.
 Source99:       baselibs.conf
 BuildRequires:  gtk-doc
 BuildRequires:  pkg-config
+%if 0%{?suse_version} <= 1130
+#openSUSE until 11.3 and also SLE11 do not bring in xz on their own.
+BuildRequires:  xz
+%endif
 Provides:       %{name}-devel = %{version}
 BuildRoot:      %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-build