diff --git a/python/podio/__init__.py b/python/podio/__init__.py
index db02e7cee..4b6e3df0f 100644
--- a/python/podio/__init__.py
+++ b/python/podio/__init__.py
@@ -15,18 +15,18 @@
 # Check if we can locate the dictionary wthout loading it as this allows us to
 # silence any ouptput. If we can find it, we can also safely load it
 if ROOT.gSystem.DynamicPathName("libpodioDict.so", True):
-    ROOT.gSystem.Load("libpodioDict.so")
-    from ROOT import podio
+  ROOT.gSystem.Load("libpodioDict.so")
+  from ROOT import podio
 
-    _DYNAMIC_LIBS_LOADED = True
+  _DYNAMIC_LIBS_LOADED = True
 
 if _DYNAMIC_LIBS_LOADED:
-    from .frame import Frame
-    from . import root_io, sio_io, reading
-    from .test_utils import *
+  from .frame import Frame
+  from . import root_io, sio_io, reading
+  from .test_utils import *
 
-    from . import EventStore
+  from . import EventStore
 
-    # Make sure that this module is actually usable as podio even though most of
-    # it is dynamically populated by cppyy
-    sys.modules["podio"] = podio
+  # Make sure that this module is actually usable as podio even though most of
+  # it is dynamically populated by cppyy
+  sys.modules["podio"] = podio
diff --git a/python/podio/test_utils.py b/python/podio/test_utils.py
index 8a2679c83..efd2d53f4 100644
--- a/python/podio/test_utils.py
+++ b/python/podio/test_utils.py
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
 
 import os
 import ROOT
-ROOT.gSystem.Load("libTestDataModelDict.so")  # noqa: E402
-from ROOT import ExampleHitCollection, ExampleClusterCollection  # noqa: E402 # pylint: disable=wrong-import-position
+
+if ROOT.gSystem.Load("libTestDataModelDict.so") >= 0:  # noqa: E402
+  from ROOT import ExampleHitCollection, ExampleClusterCollection  # noqa: E402 # pylint: disable=wrong-import-position
 
 from podio import Frame  # pylint: disable=wrong-import-position