diff --git a/R/skip.R b/R/skip.R
index 75c4d99db..2b894beed 100644
--- a/R/skip.R
+++ b/R/skip.R
@@ -100,6 +100,12 @@ skip_if <- function(condition, message = NULL) {
 #' @param minimum_version Minimum required version for the package
 #' @rdname skip
 skip_if_not_installed <- function(pkg, minimum_version = NULL) {
+  # most common case: it's not installed
+  res <- tryCatch(find.package(pkg), error = identity)
+  if (inherits(res, "error")) {
+    skip(paste0("{", pkg, "} is not installed"))
+  }
+  # rarer: it's installed, but fails to load
   if (!requireNamespace(pkg, quietly = TRUE)) {
     skip(paste0("{", pkg, "} cannot be loaded"))
   }