diff --git a/tests/common.py b/tests/common.py
index 0fe36f1f..baa5af39 100644
--- a/tests/common.py
+++ b/tests/common.py
@@ -64,8 +64,13 @@ def scorer_tester(scorer, s1, s2, **kwargs):
         assert pytest.approx(score1) == extract_iter_res1[0][1]
         assert pytest.approx(score1) == extract_iter_res2[0][1]
 
+    try:
+        import numpy as np
+    except Exception:
+        np = None
+
     # todo this should be able to handle None similar to the original scorer
-    if not is_none(s1) and not is_none(s2):
+    if not is_none(s1) and not is_none(s2) and np is not None:
         score6 = process_cpp.cdist([s1], [s2], scorer=scorer, **kwargs)[0][0]
         score7 = process_py.cdist([s1], [s2], scorer=scorer, **kwargs)[0][0]
         assert pytest.approx(score1) == score6