diff --git a/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py b/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py
index 9a07d93b4b..5242917e23 100755
--- a/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py
+++ b/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py
@@ -40,6 +40,15 @@ if 'ENABLE_UTILS' not in vars():
     ENABLE_UTILS=0
 if 'ENABLE_ZMQ' not in vars():
     ENABLE_ZMQ=0
+    
+# python-zmq may not be installed. Handle this gracefully and with some helpful info
+if ENABLE_ZMQ:
+    try:
+        import zmq
+    except ImportError:
+        print("WARNING: \"import zmq\" failed. Setting ENABLE_ZMQ=0. " \
+            "To run zmq tests, see dependency info in /qa/README.md.")
+        ENABLE_ZMQ=0
 
 ENABLE_COVERAGE=0