diff --git a/mlflow/R/mlflow/.run-tests.R b/mlflow/R/mlflow/.run-tests.R
index 40f8e550da8aa..d55df992872eb 100644
--- a/mlflow/R/mlflow/.run-tests.R
+++ b/mlflow/R/mlflow/.run-tests.R
@@ -8,10 +8,12 @@ use_condaenv(mlflow:::mlflow_conda_env_name())
 
 devtools::check_built(
     path = package,
+    cran = TRUE,
     remote = should_enable_cran_incoming_checks(),
     error_on = "note",
     args = "--no-tests"
 )
+# This runs checks that are disabled when `cran` is TRUE (e.g. unused import check).
 devtools::check_built(
     path = package,
     cran = FALSE,
diff --git a/mlflow/R/mlflow/DESCRIPTION b/mlflow/R/mlflow/DESCRIPTION
index 9738a6af993e9..74f78731866ec 100644
--- a/mlflow/R/mlflow/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/mlflow/R/mlflow/DESCRIPTION
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ Imports:
     swagger,
     tibble (>= 2.0.0),
     withr,
-    xml2,
     yaml,
     zeallot
 Suggests: