diff --git a/Lib/test/test_readline.py b/Lib/test/test_readline.py
index a2210d43301..11045c852e9 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_readline.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_readline.py
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 why the tests cover only a small subset of the interface.
 """
 import unittest
-from test.test_support import run_unittest
+from test.test_support import run_unittest, import_module
 
-import readline
+# Skip tests if there is no readline module
+readline = import_module('readline')
 
 class TestHistoryManipulation (unittest.TestCase):
     def testHistoryUpdates(self):