diff --git a/nltk/test/unit/test_bllip.py b/nltk/test/unit/test_bllip.py
index c573248913..09d992b9b2 100644
--- a/nltk/test/unit/test_bllip.py
+++ b/nltk/test/unit/test_bllip.py
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ def parser():
     return BllipParser.from_unified_model_dir(model_dir)
 
 
+def setup_module():
+    pytest.importorskip("bllipparser")
+
+
 class TestBllipParser:
     def test_parser_loads_a_valid_tree(self, parser):
         parsed = parser.parse("I saw the man with the telescope")
diff --git a/requirements-ci.txt b/requirements-ci.txt
index 4e65e873b7..9e996bed3f 100644
--- a/requirements-ci.txt
+++ b/requirements-ci.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+bllipparser
 gensim<4.0.0
 matplotlib
 pytest