diff --git a/py/desispec/test/test_calibfinder.py b/py/desispec/test/test_calibfinder.py
index 5defcc116..334df3710 100644
--- a/py/desispec/test/test_calibfinder.py
+++ b/py/desispec/test/test_calibfinder.py
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@
 from importlib import resources
 import tempfile
 
-
 from desispec.calibfinder import CalibFinder
 
+_standard_calib_dirs = ('DESI_SPECTRO_CALIB' in os.environ) and ('DESI_SPECTRO_DARK' in os.environ)
+
 class TestCalibFinder(unittest.TestCase):
     """Test desispec.calibfinder
     """
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ def test_init(self):
         if cfinder.haskey("BIAS") :
             print(cfinder.findfile("BIAS"))
 
+    @unittest.skipIf(not _standard_calib_dirs, "$DESI_SPECTRO_CALIB or $DESI_SPECTRO_DARK not set")
     def test_missing_darks(self):
         """Missing dark files is only fatal if darks are requested
         """