diff --git a/tavern/_core/plugins.py b/tavern/_core/plugins.py
index 27d0f18b..68038550 100644
--- a/tavern/_core/plugins.py
+++ b/tavern/_core/plugins.py
@@ -108,7 +108,11 @@ def enabled(current_backend, ext):
 
         backends = ["http"]
 
-        if importlib.util.find_spec("paho.mqtt") is not None:
+        try:
+            importlib.util.find_spec("paho.mqtt")
+        except ModuleNotFoundError:
+            pass
+        else:
             backends.append("mqtt")
 
         for backend in backends: