diff --git a/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py b/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py
index 5c20e100e144..463faf7b6f52 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@
 from numpy import array, array_equal
 
 if sys.version_info[:2] <= (2, 6):
-    import unittest2 as unittest
+    try:
+        import unittest2 as unittest
+    except ImportError:
+        sys.stderr.write('Please install unittest2 to test with Python 2.6 or earlier')
+        sys.exit(1)
 else:
     import unittest
 
diff --git a/python/pyspark/tests.py b/python/pyspark/tests.py
index 7f05d48ade2b..ceab57464f01 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/tests.py
@@ -34,7 +34,11 @@
 from platform import python_implementation
 
 if sys.version_info[:2] <= (2, 6):
-    import unittest2 as unittest
+    try:
+        import unittest2 as unittest
+    except ImportError:
+        sys.stderr.write('Please install unittest2 to test with Python 2.6 or earlier')
+        sys.exit(1)
 else:
     import unittest