diff -u b/modules/simpletest/tests/module_test.info b/modules/simpletest/tests/module_test.info
--- b/modules/simpletest/tests/module_test.info
+++ b/modules/simpletest/tests/module_test.info
@@ -10 +10 @@
-dependencies[] = list
+dependencies[] = list (>=7.x)
diff -u b/modules/system/system.module b/modules/system/system.module
--- b/modules/system/system.module
+++ b/modules/system/system.module
@@ -2462,12 +2462,14 @@
  */
 function _system_rebuild_module_data_ensure_required($module, &$modules) {
   if (!empty($module->info['required'])) {
-    foreach ($module->info['dependencies'] as $dependant) {
-      if (!isset($modules[$dependant]->info['required'])) {
-        $modules[$dependant]->info['required'] = TRUE;
-        $modules[$dependant]->info['explanation'] = t('Dependency of required module @module', array('@module' => $module->name));
+    foreach ($module->info['dependencies'] as $dependency) {
+      $dependency_data = drupal_parse_dependency($dependency);
+      $dependency_name = $dependency_data['name'];
+      if (!isset($modules[$dependency_name]->info['required'])) {
+        $modules[$dependency_name]->info['required'] = TRUE;
+        $modules[$dependency_name]->info['explanation'] = t('Dependency of required module @module', array('@module' => $module->info['name']));
         // Ensure any dependencies it has are required.
-        _system_rebuild_module_data_ensure_required($modules[$dependant], $modules);
+        _system_rebuild_module_data_ensure_required($modules[$dependency_name], $modules);
       }
     }
   }