diff --git a/pandas/__init__.py b/pandas/__init__.py
index d6584bf4f..68d7ce8e4 100644
--- a/pandas/__init__.py
+++ b/pandas/__init__.py
@@ -173,8 +173,12 @@ from pandas.io.api import (
 
 from pandas.io.json import _json_normalize as json_normalize
 
-from pandas.util._tester import test
-import pandas.testing
+try:
+    from pandas.util._tester import test
+    import pandas.testing
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+
 import pandas.arrays
 
 # use the closest tagged version if possible