diff --git a/skimage/util/tests/test_version_requirements.py b/skimage/_shared/tests/test_version_requirements.py
similarity index 81%
rename from skimage/util/tests/test_version_requirements.py
rename to skimage/_shared/tests/test_version_requirements.py
index 765baaa8..9511a1fe 100644
--- a/skimage/util/tests/test_version_requirements.py
+++ b/skimage/_shared/tests/test_version_requirements.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 from numpy.testing import assert_raises, assert_equal
 import nose
-from skimage.util import version_requirements as vr
+from skimage._shared import version_requirements as vr
 
 
 def test_get_module_version():
@@ -33,12 +33,6 @@ def test_require():
 
     assert_raises(ImportError, lambda: bar())
 
-    @vr.require('numpy', '<1.0')
-    def test_this():
-        assert False
-
-    assert_raises(nose.SkipTest, lambda: test_this()())
-
 
 def test_get_module():
     assert_equal(vr.get_module('numpy'), np)
diff --git a/skimage/util/version_requirements.py b/skimage/_shared/version_requirements.py
similarity index 92%
rename from skimage/util/version_requirements.py
rename to skimage/_shared/version_requirements.py
index 2858aa5d..7407d600 100644
--- a/skimage/util/version_requirements.py
+++ b/skimage/_shared/version_requirements.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import functools
 import re
 import sys
 import types
-from numpy.testing.decorators import skipif
 
 
 def _check_version(actver, version, cmp_op):
@@ -108,12 +107,6 @@ def require(name, version=None):
                 if not version is None:
                     msg += " %s" % version
                 raise ImportError(msg + '"')
-        if (isinstance(obj, types.FunctionType) and
-                obj.__name__.startswith('test_')):
-            if not is_installed(name, version):
-                func_wrapped = lambda: skipif(True)(obj)
-            else:
-                func_wrapped = obj
         return func_wrapped
     return decorator
 
diff --git a/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py b/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py
index b6f95cb2..753bcb74 100644
--- a/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py
+++ b/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 from skimage import graph
-from skimage.util.version_requirements import require
+from skimage._shared.version_requirements import is_installed
+from numpy.testing.decorators import skipif
 
 
 def max_edge(g, src, dst, n):
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ def max_edge(g, src, dst, n):
     return max(w1, w2)
 
 
-@require('networkx')
+@skipif(not is_installed('networkx'))
 def test_rag_merge():
     g = graph.rag.RAG()
 
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ def test_rag_merge():
     assert g.edges() == []
 
 
-@require('networkx')
+@skipif(not is_installed('networkx'))
 def test_threshold_cut():
 
     img = np.zeros((100, 100, 3), dtype='uint8')
diff --git a/skimage/viewer/__init__.py b/skimage/viewer/__init__.py
index a146f348..4bf70a93 100644
--- a/skimage/viewer/__init__.py
+++ b/skimage/viewer/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from warnings import warn
-from skimage.util.version_requirements import is_installed
+from skimage._shared.version_requirements import is_installed
 
 from .viewers import ImageViewer, CollectionViewer
 from .qt import qt_api
diff --git a/skimage/viewer/plugins/overlayplugin.py b/skimage/viewer/plugins/overlayplugin.py
index 1850992d..7f016328 100644
--- a/skimage/viewer/plugins/overlayplugin.py
+++ b/skimage/viewer/plugins/overlayplugin.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from .base import Plugin
 from ..utils import ClearColormap, update_axes_image
 
 import six
-from skimage.util.version_requirements import is_installed
+from skimage._shared.version_requirements import is_installed
 
 
 __all__ = ['OverlayPlugin']
diff --git a/skimage/viewer/tests/test_plugins.py b/skimage/viewer/tests/test_plugins.py
index 4708db6e..497708a4 100644
--- a/skimage/viewer/tests/test_plugins.py
+++ b/skimage/viewer/tests/test_plugins.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from skimage.viewer.plugins import (
     PlotPlugin)
 from skimage.viewer.plugins.base import Plugin
 from skimage.viewer.widgets import Slider
-from skimage.util.version_requirements import is_installed
+
 
 def setup_line_profile(image, limits='image'):
     viewer = ImageViewer(skimage.img_as_float(image))
diff --git a/skimage/viewer/tests/test_viewer.py b/skimage/viewer/tests/test_viewer.py
index 85a0d76f..1b93ff52 100644
--- a/skimage/viewer/tests/test_viewer.py
+++ b/skimage/viewer/tests/test_viewer.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from skimage.viewer.plugins import OverlayPlugin
 from skimage.filter import sobel
 from numpy.testing import assert_equal
 from numpy.testing.decorators import skipif
-from skimage.util.version_requirements import require
+from skimage._shared.version_requirements import is_installed
 
 
 @skipif(not viewer_available)
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def test_collection_viewer():
 
 
 @skipif(not viewer_available)
-@require('matplotlib', '>=1.2')
+@skipif(not is_installed('matplotlib', '>=1.2'))
 def test_viewer_with_overlay():
     img = data.coins()
     ov = OverlayPlugin(image_filter=sobel)