diff --git a/bin/weedb/test/test_errors.py b/bin/weedb/test/test_errors.py
index d83bd9b3..49fba3f2 100644
--- a/bin/weedb/test/test_errors.py
+++ b/bin/weedb/test/test_errors.py
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ import stat
 import sys
 import unittest
 
-import MySQLdb
-
 import weedb
 
 #
@@ -51,6 +49,10 @@ class Common(unittest.TestCase):
  
     def setUp(self):
         """Drop the old databases, in preparation for running a test."""
+        try:
+            import MySQLdb
+        except ImportError as e:
+            raise unittest.case.SkipTest(e.message)
         try:
             weedb.drop(mysql1_dict)
         except weedb.NoDatabase:
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index cee202a5..170f6a5a 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ test:
   echo >> $(BLDDIR)/test-results; \
 done
 	@grep "ERROR:\|FAIL:" $(BLDDIR)/test-results || echo "no failures"
-	@echo "see $(BLDDIR)/test-results"
+	@grep "skipped=" $(BLDDIR)/test-results || echo "no tests were skipped"
+	@echo "see $(BLDDIR)/test-results for output from the tests"
 
 test-setup:
 	bin/weedb/test/setup_mysql