diff --git a/openff/toolkit/utils/openeye_wrapper.py b/openff/toolkit/utils/openeye_wrapper.py
index be4f4fd1f..b101cf87c 100644
--- a/openff/toolkit/utils/openeye_wrapper.py
+++ b/openff/toolkit/utils/openeye_wrapper.py
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@
 __all__ = ("OpenEyeToolkitWrapper",)
 
 
-import zstandard  # noqa
+try:
+    import zstandard  # noqa
+except ImportError:
+    pass
 import importlib
 import logging
 import pathlib