diff --git a/R/python-install.R b/R/python-install.R
index 3a4e00e..0fafe49 100644
--- a/R/python-install.R
+++ b/R/python-install.R
@@ -217,8 +217,7 @@ install_environment <- function(
     "PyArrow",
     "grpcio",
     "google-api-python-client",
-    "grpcio_status",
-    "rpy2"
+    "grpcio_status"
   )
 
   if (add_torch && install_ml) {
diff --git a/R/sparklyr-spark-apply.R b/R/sparklyr-spark-apply.R
index afdbdb9..afc7cdc 100644
--- a/R/sparklyr-spark-apply.R
+++ b/R/sparklyr-spark-apply.R
@@ -14,10 +14,7 @@ spark_apply.tbl_pyspark <- function(
     arrow_max_records_per_batch = NULL,
     auto_deps = FALSE,
     ...) {
-  py_check_installed(
-    libraries = "rpy2",
-    msg = "Requires an additional Python library"
-  )
+  rpy2_installed()
   cli_div(theme = cli_colors())
   if (!is.null(packages)) {
     cli_abort("`packages` is not yet supported for this backend")
@@ -209,3 +206,11 @@ sa_function_to_string <- function(
   }
   ret
 }
+
+rpy2_installed <- function(envname = NULL) {
+  py_check_installed(
+    envname = envname,
+    libraries = "rpy2",
+    msg = "Required 'rpy2' Python library is missing"
+  )
+}