diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
index 91bc4e3..d6fb676 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
@@ -19,10 +19,18 @@
 except ImportError:
     ZIP_SUPPORT = find_executable('zip')
 
+# some tests will fail if zlib is not available
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
+
 class ArchiveUtilTestCase(support.TempdirManager,
                           support.LoggingSilencer,
                           unittest.TestCase):
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "Requires zlib")
     def test_make_tarball(self):
         # creating something to tar
         tmpdir = self.mkdtemp()
@@ -83,6 +91,7 @@
         base_name = os.path.join(tmpdir2, 'archive')
         return tmpdir, tmpdir2, base_name
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "Requires zlib")
     @unittest.skipUnless(find_executable('tar') and find_executable('gzip'),
                          'Need the tar command to run')
     def test_tarfile_vs_tar(self):
@@ -168,6 +177,7 @@
         self.assertTrue(not os.path.exists(tarball))
         self.assertEquals(len(w.warnings), 1)
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "Requires zlib")
     @unittest.skipUnless(ZIP_SUPPORT, 'Need zip support to run')
     def test_make_zipfile(self):
         # creating something to tar
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py
index b28f89f..a838f73 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@
 import sys
 import os
 
+# zlib is not used here, but if it's not available
+# test_simple_built will fail
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
 from distutils.core import Distribution
 from distutils.command.bdist_dumb import bdist_dumb
 from distutils.tests import support
@@ -31,6 +38,7 @@
         sys.argv = self.old_sys_argv[:]
         super(BuildDumbTestCase, self).tearDown()
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_simple_built(self):
 
         # let's create a simple package
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
index 5808ca1..c2feccb 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@
 import unittest
 import shutil
 import zipfile
+
+# zlib is not used here, but if it's not available
+# the tests that use zipfile may fail
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
 from os.path import join
 import sys
 import tempfile
@@ -79,6 +87,7 @@
         cmd.warn = _warn
         return dist, cmd
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_prune_file_list(self):
         # this test creates a package with some vcs dirs in it
         # and launch sdist to make sure they get pruned
@@ -120,6 +129,7 @@
         # making sure everything has been pruned correctly
         self.assertEquals(len(content), 4)
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_make_distribution(self):
 
         # check if tar and gzip are installed
@@ -156,6 +166,7 @@
         self.assertEquals(result,
                 ['fake-1.0.tar', 'fake-1.0.tar.gz'])
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_add_defaults(self):
 
         # http://bugs.python.org/issue2279
@@ -217,6 +228,7 @@
         manifest = open(join(self.tmp_dir, 'MANIFEST')).read()
         self.assertEquals(manifest, MANIFEST % {'sep': os.sep})
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_metadata_check_option(self):
         # testing the `medata-check` option
         dist, cmd = self.get_cmd(metadata={})
diff --git a/Lib/sqlite3/test/types.py b/Lib/sqlite3/test/types.py
index aab6e04..a275a26 100644
--- a/Lib/sqlite3/test/types.py
+++ b/Lib/sqlite3/test/types.py
@@ -21,9 +21,14 @@
 #    misrepresented as being the original software.
 # 3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
 
-import zlib, datetime
+import datetime
 import unittest
 import sqlite3 as sqlite
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
 
 class SqliteTypeTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
@@ -300,6 +305,7 @@
         val = self.cur.fetchone()[0]
         self.assertEqual(type(val), float)
 
+@unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
 class BinaryConverterTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def convert(s):
         return zlib.decompress(s)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_gzip.py b/Lib/test/test_gzip.py
index 8ae31b2..13b0e57 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_gzip.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_gzip.py
@@ -5,9 +5,8 @@
 import unittest
 from test import test_support
 import os
-import gzip
 import struct
-
+gzip = test_support.import_module('gzip')
 
 data1 = """  int length=DEFAULTALLOC, err = Z_OK;
   PyObject *RetVal;
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py b/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
index 652274f..3f86b32 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@
         self.assertEqual(zipfp.read(TESTFN), file(TESTFN).read())
         zipfp.close()
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_per_file_compression(self):
         # Check that files within a Zip archive can have different compression options
         zipfp = zipfile.ZipFile(TESTFN2, "w")
@@ -882,6 +883,7 @@
         self.zip2.setpassword("perl")
         self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, self.zip2.read, "zero")
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_good_password(self):
         self.zip.setpassword("python")
         self.assertEquals(self.zip.read("test.txt"), self.plain)
@@ -982,6 +984,7 @@
             self.zip_random_open_test(f, zipfile.ZIP_STORED)
 
 
+@skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
 class TestsWithMultipleOpens(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         # Create the ZIP archive
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_zipimport.py b/Lib/test/test_zipimport.py
index 3072230..f15958c 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_zipimport.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_zipimport.py
@@ -6,11 +6,17 @@
 import time
 import unittest
 
-import zlib # implied prerequisite
-from zipfile import ZipFile, ZipInfo, ZIP_STORED, ZIP_DEFLATED
 from test import test_support
 from test.test_importhooks import ImportHooksBaseTestCase, test_src, test_co
 
+# some tests can be ran even without zlib
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
+from zipfile import ZipFile, ZipInfo, ZIP_STORED, ZIP_DEFLATED
+
 import zipimport
 import linecache
 import doctest
@@ -53,6 +59,7 @@
 TESTPACK2 = "ziptestpackage2"
 TEMP_ZIP = os.path.abspath("junk95142" + os.extsep + "zip")
 
+
 class UncompressedZipImportTestCase(ImportHooksBaseTestCase):
 
     compression = ZIP_STORED
@@ -357,7 +364,6 @@
     def testDoctestSuite(self):
         self.runDoctest(self.doDoctestSuite)
 
-
     def doTraceback(self, module):
         try:
             module.do_raise()
@@ -381,6 +387,7 @@
         self.doTest(None, files, TESTMOD, call=self.doTraceback)
 
 
+@unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
 class CompressedZipImportTestCase(UncompressedZipImportTestCase):
     compression = ZIP_DEFLATED