diff --git a/nipype/__init__.py b/nipype/__init__.py
index 419f1701b8..799e92e750 100644
--- a/nipype/__init__.py
+++ b/nipype/__init__.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
                         absolute_import)
 
 import os
+import functools
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 
 from .info import (LONG_DESCRIPTION as __doc__, URL as __url__, STATUS as
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ def get_info():
                          Rename, Function, Select, Merge)
 
 
+@functools.lru_cache()
 def check_version(raise_exception=False):
     """Check for the latest version of the library
 
@@ -95,5 +97,8 @@ def check_version(raise_exception=False):
                     logger.critical(message)
 
 
+# Run telemetry on import for interactive sessions, such as IPython, Jupyter notebooks, Python REPL
 if config.getboolean('execution', 'check_version'):
-    check_version()
+    import __main__
+    if not hasattr(__main__, '__file__'):
+        check_version()
diff --git a/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py b/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py
index 7ba8486082..7132f7fc97 100644
--- a/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py
+++ b/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py
@@ -169,6 +169,10 @@ class BaseInterface(Interface):
 
     def __init__(self, from_file=None, resource_monitor=None,
                  ignore_exception=False, **inputs):
+        if config.getboolean('execution', 'check_version'):
+            from ... import check_version
+            check_version()
+
         if not self.input_spec:
             raise Exception(
                 'No input_spec in class: %s' % self.__class__.__name__)
diff --git a/nipype/pipeline/engine/base.py b/nipype/pipeline/engine/base.py
index 7f7afd3928..ffb64222d4 100644
--- a/nipype/pipeline/engine/base.py
+++ b/nipype/pipeline/engine/base.py
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ def __init__(self, name=None, base_dir=None):
 
         self.base_dir = base_dir
         self.config = deepcopy(config._sections)
+        if config.getboolean('execution', 'check_version'):
+            from ... import check_version
+            check_version()
 
     @property
     def name(self):