diff --git a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
index ce260d9b802..490e7f35603 100644
--- a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
+++ b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
@@ -1950,6 +1950,19 @@ This is described in more detail in :pep:`301`.
 
 .. % todo
 
+:mod:`distutils.command.check` --- Check the meta-data of a package
+===================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.check
+   :synopsis: Check the metadata of a package
+
+
+The ``check`` command performs some tests on the meta-data of a package.
+It makes sure for example that all required meta-data are provided through
+the arguments passed to the :func:`setup` function.
+
+.. % todo
+
 
 Creating a new Distutils command
 ================================
diff --git a/Doc/distutils/examples.rst b/Doc/distutils/examples.rst
index b4959286578..d5918a5eb26 100644
--- a/Doc/distutils/examples.rst
+++ b/Doc/distutils/examples.rst
@@ -233,6 +233,58 @@ With exactly the same source tree layout, this extension can be put in the
          ext_modules=[Extension('foopkg.foo', ['foo.c'])],
          )
 
+Checking a package
+==================
+
+The ``check`` command allows you to verify if your package meta-data are
+meeting the minimum requirements to build a distribution.
+
+To run it, just call it over your :file:`setup.py` script. If something is
+missing, ``check`` will display a warning.
+
+Let's take an example with a simple script::
+
+    from distutils.core import setup
+
+    setup(name='foobar')
+
+Running the ``check`` command will display some warnings::
+
+    $ python setup.py check
+    running check
+    warning: check: missing required meta-data: version ,url
+    warning: check: missing meta-data: either (author and author_email) or
+             (maintainer and maintainer_email) must be supplied
+
+
+If you use the reStructuredText syntax in the `long_description` field and
+`docutils <http://docutils.sourceforge.net/>`_ is installed you can check if
+the syntax is fine with the ``check`` command, using the `restructuredtext`
+option.
+
+For example, if the :file:`setup.py` script is changed like this::
+
+    from distutils.core import setup
+
+    desc = """\
+    My description
+    =============
+
+    This is the description of the ``foobar`` package.
+    """
+
+    setup(name='foobar', version='1', author='tarek',
+        author_email='tarek@ziade.org',
+        url='http://example.com', long_description=desc)
+
+Where the long description is broken, ``check`` will be able to detect it
+by using the `docutils` parser::
+
+    $ pythontrunk setup.py check --restructuredtext
+    running check
+    warning: check: Title underline too short. (line 2)
+    warning: check: Could not finish the parsing.
+
 .. % \section{Multiple extension modules}
 .. % \label{multiple-ext}
 
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py b/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py
index add83f8740e..f7dcde48ed1 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ __all__ = ['build',
            'bdist_dumb',
            'bdist_rpm',
            'bdist_wininst',
+           'check',
            # These two are reserved for future use:
            #'bdist_sdux',
            #'bdist_pkgtool',
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/check.py b/Lib/distutils/command/check.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c72914952e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/check.py
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+"""distutils.command.check
+
+Implements the Distutils 'check' command.
+"""
+__revision__ = "$Id$"
+
+from distutils.core import Command
+from distutils.errors import DistutilsSetupError
+
+try:
+    # docutils is installed
+    from docutils.utils import Reporter
+    from docutils.parsers.rst import Parser
+    from docutils import frontend
+    from docutils import nodes
+    from StringIO import StringIO
+
+    class SilentReporter(Reporter):
+
+        def __init__(self, source, report_level, halt_level, stream=None,
+                     debug=0, encoding='ascii', error_handler='replace'):
+            self.messages = []
+            Reporter.__init__(self, source, report_level, halt_level, stream,
+                              debug, encoding, error_handler)
+
+        def system_message(self, level, message, *children, **kwargs):
+            self.messages.append((level, message, children, kwargs))
+
+    HAS_DOCUTILS = True
+except ImportError:
+    # docutils is not installed
+    HAS_DOCUTILS = False
+
+class check(Command):
+    """This command checks the meta-data of the package.
+    """
+    description = ("perform some checks on the package")
+    user_options = [('metadata', 'm', 'Verify meta-data'),
+                    ('restructuredtext', 'r',
+                     ('Checks if long string meta-data syntax '
+                      'are reStructuredText-compliant')),
+                    ('strict', 's',
+                     'Will exit with an error if a check fails')]
+
+    boolean_options = ['metadata', 'restructuredtext', 'strict']
+
+    def initialize_options(self):
+        """Sets default values for options."""
+        self.restructuredtext = 0
+        self.metadata = 1
+        self.strict = 0
+        self._warnings = 0
+
+    def finalize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def warn(self, msg):
+        """Counts the number of warnings that occurs."""
+        self._warnings += 1
+        return Command.warn(self, msg)
+
+    def run(self):
+        """Runs the command."""
+        # perform the various tests
+        if self.metadata:
+            self.check_metadata()
+        if self.restructuredtext:
+            if docutils:
+                self.check_restructuredtext()
+            elif self.strict:
+                raise DistutilsSetupError('The docutils package is needed.')
+
+        # let's raise an error in strict mode, if we have at least
+        # one warning
+        if self.strict and self._warnings > 1:
+            raise DistutilsSetupError('Please correct your package.')
+
+    def check_metadata(self):
+        """Ensures that all required elements of meta-data are supplied.
+
+        name, version, URL, (author and author_email) or
+        (maintainer and maintainer_email)).
+
+        Warns if any are missing.
+        """
+        metadata = self.distribution.metadata
+
+        missing = []
+        for attr in ('name', 'version', 'url'):
+            if not (hasattr(metadata, attr) and getattr(metadata, attr)):
+                missing.append(attr)
+
+        if missing:
+            self.warn("missing required meta-data: %s"  % ' ,'.join(missing))
+        if metadata.author:
+            if not metadata.author_email:
+                self.warn("missing meta-data: if 'author' supplied, " +
+                          "'author_email' must be supplied too")
+        elif metadata.maintainer:
+            if not metadata.maintainer_email:
+                self.warn("missing meta-data: if 'maintainer' supplied, " +
+                          "'maintainer_email' must be supplied too")
+        else:
+            self.warn("missing meta-data: either (author and author_email) " +
+                      "or (maintainer and maintainer_email) " +
+                      "must be supplied")
+
+    def check_restructuredtext(self):
+        """Checks if the long string fields are reST-compliant."""
+        data = self.distribution.get_long_description()
+        for warning in self._check_rst_data(data):
+            line = warning[-1].get('line')
+            if line is None:
+                warning = warning[1]
+            else:
+                warning = '%s (line %s)' % (warning[1], line)
+            self.warn(warning)
+
+    def _check_rst_data(self, data):
+        """Returns warnings when the provided data doesn't compile."""
+        source_path = StringIO()
+        parser = Parser()
+        settings = frontend.OptionParser().get_default_values()
+        settings.tab_width = 4
+        settings.pep_references = None
+        settings.rfc_references = None
+        reporter = SilentReporter(source_path,
+                          settings.report_level,
+                          settings.halt_level,
+                          stream=settings.warning_stream,
+                          debug=settings.debug,
+                          encoding=settings.error_encoding,
+                          error_handler=settings.error_encoding_error_handler)
+
+        document = nodes.document(settings, reporter, source=source_path)
+        document.note_source(source_path, -1)
+        try:
+            parser.parse(data, document)
+        except AttributeError:
+            reporter.messages.append((-1, 'Could not finish the parsing.',
+                                      '', {}))
+
+        return reporter.messages
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_check.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_check.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..443fa35baff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_check.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+"""Tests for distutils.command.check."""
+import unittest
+
+from distutils.command.check import check, HAS_DOCUTILS
+from distutils.tests import support
+from distutils.errors import DistutilsSetupError
+
+class CheckTestCase(support.LoggingSilencer,
+                    support.TempdirManager,
+                    unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def _run(self, metadata=None, **options):
+        if metadata is None:
+            metadata = {}
+        pkg_info, dist = self.create_dist(**metadata)
+        cmd = check(dist)
+        cmd.initialize_options()
+        for name, value in options.items():
+            setattr(cmd, name, value)
+        cmd.ensure_finalized()
+        cmd.run()
+        return cmd
+
+    def test_check_metadata(self):
+        # let's run the command with no metadata at all
+        # by default, check is checking the metadata
+        # should have some warnings
+        cmd = self._run()
+        self.assertEquals(cmd._warnings, 2)
+
+        # now let's add the required fields
+        # and run it again, to make sure we don't get
+        # any warning anymore
+        metadata = {'url': 'xxx', 'author': 'xxx',
+                    'author_email': 'xxx',
+                    'name': 'xxx', 'version': 'xxx'}
+        cmd = self._run(metadata)
+        self.assertEquals(cmd._warnings, 0)
+
+        # now with the strict mode, we should
+        # get an error if there are missing metadata
+        self.assertRaises(DistutilsSetupError, self._run, {}, **{'strict': 1})
+
+        # and of course, no error when all metadata are present
+        cmd = self._run(metadata, strict=1)
+        self.assertEquals(cmd._warnings, 0)
+
+    def test_check_document(self):
+        if not HAS_DOCUTILS: # won't test without docutils
+            return
+        pkg_info, dist = self.create_dist()
+        cmd = check(dist)
+
+        # let's see if it detects broken rest
+        broken_rest = 'title\n===\n\ntest'
+        msgs = cmd._check_rst_data(broken_rest)
+        self.assertEquals(len(msgs), 1)
+
+        # and non-broken rest
+        rest = 'title\n=====\n\ntest'
+        msgs = cmd._check_rst_data(rest)
+        self.assertEquals(len(msgs), 0)
+
+    def test_check_restructuredtext(self):
+        if not HAS_DOCUTILS: # won't test without docutils
+            return
+        # let's see if it detects broken rest in long_description
+        broken_rest = 'title\n===\n\ntest'
+        pkg_info, dist = self.create_dist(long_description=broken_rest)
+        cmd = check(dist)
+        cmd.check_restructuredtext()
+        self.assertEquals(cmd._warnings, 1)
+
+        # let's see if we have an error with strict=1
+        cmd = check(dist)
+        cmd.initialize_options()
+        cmd.strict = 1
+        cmd.ensure_finalized()
+        self.assertRaises(DistutilsSetupError, cmd.run)
+
+        # and non-broken rest
+        rest = 'title\n=====\n\ntest'
+        pkg_info, dist = self.create_dist(long_description=rest)
+        cmd = check(dist)
+        cmd.check_restructuredtext()
+        self.assertEquals(cmd._warnings, 0)
+
+def test_suite():
+    return unittest.makeSuite(CheckTestCase)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main(defaultTest="test_suite")
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 29e44d56dfb..9b7f13bc20b 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -340,6 +340,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #5732: added a new command in Distutils: check.
+
 - Issue #5731: Distutils bdist_wininst no longer worked on non-Windows 
   platforms. Initial patch by Paul Moore.