diff --git a/test/bdev/bdevio/tests.py b/test/bdev/bdevio/tests.py
index e89a5fb04c..8b46061d05 100755
--- a/test/bdev/bdevio/tests.py
+++ b/test/bdev/bdevio/tests.py
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-
-from rpc.client import print_dict, JSONRPCException
-
 import logging
 import argparse
-import rpc
 import sys
 import shlex
 
+try:
+    from rpc.client import print_dict, JSONRPCException
+    import rpc
+except ImportError:
+    print("SPDK RPC library missing. Please add spdk/scripts/ directory to PYTHONPATH:")
+    print("'export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:./spdk/scripts/'")
+    exit(1)
+
 try:
     from shlex import quote
 except ImportError: