diff --git a/kwant/tests/test_qsymm.py b/kwant/tests/test_qsymm.py
index 7f0d1825afd7ddec61840a0e78ba1064c7895477..7ad21aa64cb811cc30748361c7640327405654e7 100644
--- a/kwant/tests/test_qsymm.py
+++ b/kwant/tests/test_qsymm.py
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@
 from collections import OrderedDict
 
 import numpy as np
-import sympy
 
-import qsymm
+from pytest import importorskip
+
+sympy = importorskip('sympy')
+
+qsymm = importorskip('qsymm')
 from qsymm.symmetry_finder import symmetries
 from qsymm.hamiltonian_generator import bloch_family, hamiltonian_from_family
 from qsymm.groups import (hexagonal, PointGroupElement, spin_matrices,