diff --git a/tests/testthat/helper.R b/tests/testthat/helper.R
index a69ebfd..4de0d45 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/helper.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/helper.R
@@ -31,10 +31,14 @@ download_nc_basic <- function() {
 
 get_gisbase <- function() {
   if (Sys.info()["sysname"] == "Linux") {
-    gisBase <- system2("grass", "--config path", stdout = TRUE)
+    gisBase <- try(system2("grass", "--config path", stdout = TRUE), silent = TRUE)
   } else {
-    gisBase <- Sys.getenv("GRASS_INSTALLATION")
+    gisBase <- try(Sys.getenv("GRASS_INSTALLATION"), silent = TRUE)
   }
 
+  if (inherits(gisBase, "try-error")) {
+    message("GRASS GIS not found on PATH")
+    return(NULL)
+  }
   return(gisBase)
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-initGRASS.R b/tests/testthat/test-initGRASS.R
index 6bebb54..363fc37 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-initGRASS.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-initGRASS.R
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ test_that("testing basic initGRASS", {
 })
 
 test_that("testing initialization from SpatRaster", {
+  skip_if_not(!is.null(gisBase), "GRASS GIS not found on PATH")
+
   meuse_grid <- rast(system.file("ex/meuse.tif", package = "terra"))
   loc <- initGRASS(gisBase = gisBase, SG = meuse_grid, override = TRUE)
   expect_s3_class(loc, "gmeta")
@@ -51,6 +53,8 @@ test_that("testing remove_GISRC", {
 })
 
 test_that("testing set/unset.GIS_LOCK", {
+  skip_if_not(!is.null(gisBase), "GRASS GIS not found on PATH")
+
   loc <- initGRASS(
     gisBase = gisBase,
     gisDbase = testdata$gisDbase,
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-read_VECT.R b/tests/testthat/test-read_VECT.R
index e599db0..3a47616 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-read_VECT.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-read_VECT.R
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ test_that("testing read_VECT", {
 })
 
 test_that("testing write_VECT", {
+  skip_if_not(!is.null(gisBase), "GRASS GIS not found on PATH")
+
   shp <- vect(system.file("ex/lux.shp", package = "terra"))
   elev <- rast(system.file("ex/elev.tif", package = "terra"))