use ExtUtils::MakeMaker; my %prereqs = ( "Blah::Blah" => 0, "Foo::Bar" => 1.0, ); eval{require Some::Module}; if ($@) { my $reply = prompt("Some::Module not installed. Install (Y/n)", "Y +"); $prereqs{"Some::Module"} = 0 unless $reply =~ m/n/i; } WriteMakefile( PREREQ_PM => \%prereqs, );