diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/preinstall.js b/lifecycleScripts/preinstall.js
index 6d481658b..6cd912dd7 100644
--- a/lifecycleScripts/preinstall.js
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/preinstall.js
@@ -10,12 +10,26 @@ module.exports = function prepareForBuild() {
   return exec("npm -v")
     .then(function(npmVersion) {
       if (npmVersion.split(".")[0] < 3) {
-        console.log("[nodegit] npm@2 installed, pre-loading required packages");
+        console.log("[nodegit] npm@2 installed, " + 
+                    "pre-loading required packages");
         return exec("npm install --ignore-scripts");
       }
 
       return Promise.resolve();
     })
+    .catch(function(err) {
+      console.log("npm install failed, change to yarn install");
+      return exec("yarn --version")
+        .then(function(yarnVersion) {
+          if (yarnVersion.split(".")[0] < 1) {
+            console.log("[nodegit] yarn installed, " +
+                        "pre-loading required packages");
+            return exec("yarn install --ignore-scripts");
+          }
+
+          return Promise.resolve();
+        });
+    })
     .then(function() {
       if (buildFlags.isGitRepo) {
         var submodules = require(local("submodules"));