diff --git a/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py b/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py
index ec71744f365c1..cead9e38f65b5 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/mllib/tests.py
@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@
 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 0d4c4b7d0a94d..6ba76ec9d5926 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/tests.py
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@
 import zipfile
 
 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