diff --git a/DEPENDS b/DEPENDS
index 56076132c..b467900d7 100644
--- a/DEPENDS
+++ b/DEPENDS
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 === Core ===
- * libtorrent (rasterbar) >= 0.16.7
+ * libtorrent (rasterbar) >= 1.0.7
  * python >= 2.6
  * setuptools
  * twisted >= 11.1
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
  * pyxdg
  * chardet
  * gettext
+ * python-geoip (optional)
  * geoip-database (optional)
  * setproctitle (optional)
  * pillow (optional)
diff --git a/deluge/core/core.py b/deluge/core/core.py
index 3c0a2a896..7499698b0 100644
--- a/deluge/core/core.py
+++ b/deluge/core/core.py
@@ -96,6 +96,9 @@ class Core(component.Component):
         self.external_ip = None
         self.eventmanager.register_event_handler("ExternalIPEvent", self._on_external_ip_event)
 
+        # GeoIP instance with db loaded
+        self.geoip_instance = None
+
         # Get the core config
         self.config = ConfigManager("core.conf")
         self.config.save()
diff --git a/deluge/core/preferencesmanager.py b/deluge/core/preferencesmanager.py
index 4372bd4ac..d7aa3e8aa 100644
--- a/deluge/core/preferencesmanager.py
+++ b/deluge/core/preferencesmanager.py
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ import deluge.configmanager
 from deluge._libtorrent import lt
 from deluge.event import ConfigValueChangedEvent
 
+try:
+    import GeoIP
+except ImportError:
+    GeoIP = None
+
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 DEFAULT_PREFS = {
@@ -436,27 +441,19 @@ class PreferencesManager(component.Component):
         log.debug("%s: %s", key, value)
         self.session_set_setting("anonymous_mode", value)
 
-    def _on_set_geoip_db_location(self, key, value):
-        log.debug("%s: %s", key, value)
+    def _on_set_geoip_db_location(self, key, geoip_db):
+        log.debug("%s: %s", key, geoip_db)
         # Load the GeoIP DB for country look-ups if available
-        geoip_db = ""
-        if os.path.exists(value):
-            geoip_db = value
-        elif os.path.exists(deluge.common.resource_filename("deluge", os.path.join("data", "GeoIP.dat"))):
-            geoip_db = deluge.common.resource_filename(
-                "deluge", os.path.join("data", "GeoIP.dat")
-            )
+        deluge_geoip_db = deluge.common.resource_filename("deluge", os.path.join("data", "GeoIP.dat"))
+        for geoip_path in (geoip_db, deluge_geoip_db):
+            if os.path.exists(geoip_path):
+                try:
+                    self.core.geoip_instance = GeoIP.open(geoip_path, GeoIP.GEOIP_STANDARD)
+                except AttributeError:
+                    log.warning("GeoIP Unavailable")
+                break
         else:
-            log.warning("Unable to find GeoIP database file!")
-
-        if geoip_db:
-            try:
-                self.session.load_country_db(str(geoip_db))
-            except RuntimeError as ex:
-                log.error("Unable to load geoip database!")
-                log.exception(ex)
-            except AttributeError:
-                log.warning("GeoIP Unavailable")
+            log.warning("Unable to find GeoIP database file: %s")
 
     def _on_set_cache_size(self, key, value):
         log.debug("%s: %s", key, value)
diff --git a/deluge/core/torrent.py b/deluge/core/torrent.py
index 7fa3d0f0b..93e67c97b 100644
--- a/deluge/core/torrent.py
+++ b/deluge/core/torrent.py
@@ -791,14 +791,14 @@ class Torrent(object):
             if peer.flags & peer.connecting or peer.flags & peer.handshake:
                 continue
 
-            client = decode_string(str(peer.client))
-            # Make country a proper string
-            country = str()
-            for char in peer.country:
-                if not char.isalpha():
-                    country += " "
-                else:
-                    country += char
+            client = decode_string(peer.client)
+
+            try:
+                country = component.get("Core").geoip_instance.country_code_by_addr(peer.ip[0])
+            except AttributeError:
+                country = ""
+            else:
+                country = "".join([char if char.isalpha() else " " for char in country])
 
             ret.append({
                 "client": client,
diff --git a/deluge/ui/gtkui/peers_tab.py b/deluge/ui/gtkui/peers_tab.py
index 943254126..82ea2e1bf 100644
--- a/deluge/ui/gtkui/peers_tab.py
+++ b/deluge/ui/gtkui/peers_tab.py
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ class PeersTab(Tab):
         component.get("SessionProxy").get_torrent_status(torrent_id, ["peers"]).addCallback(self._on_get_torrent_status)
 
     def get_flag_pixbuf(self, country):
-        if country == "  ":
+        if not country.strip():
             return None
 
         if country not in self.cached_flag_pixbufs: