diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py
index c529fa59a..b1d979200 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from types import SimpleNamespace
 import pytest
 
 pwd = pytest.importorskip("pwd")
+grp = pytest.importorskip("grp")
 
 import hermes_cli.gateway as gateway_cli
 from gateway import status
@@ -1331,7 +1332,6 @@ class TestSystemServiceIdentityRootHandling:
 
     def test_explicit_root_is_allowed(self, monkeypatch):
         """When root is explicitly passed via --run-as-user root, allow it."""
-        import grp
 
         root_info = pwd.getpwnam("root")
         root_group = grp.getgrgid(root_info.pw_gid).gr_name