diff --git a/skimage/viewer/__init__.py b/skimage/viewer/__init__.py
index e20546b0..638cf43f 100644
--- a/skimage/viewer/__init__.py
+++ b/skimage/viewer/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1,4 @@
-from viewers import ImageViewer
+try:
+    from viewers import ImageViewer
+except ImportError:
+    print("Could not import PyQt4 -- ImageViewer not available.")