diff --git a/tests/ebuild/test_build_dir_resolution.py b/tests/ebuild/test_build_dir_resolution.py
index 43f17e9..9cc3102 100644
--- a/tests/ebuild/test_build_dir_resolution.py
+++ b/tests/ebuild/test_build_dir_resolution.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
+import shutil
 import textwrap
 from pathlib import Path
 from types import SimpleNamespace
@@ -244,8 +245,8 @@ def test_configure_and_build_from_outside_agree_on_the_build_dir(
 
 
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
-    shutil.which("gcc") is None,
-    reason="needs gcc on PATH to link the executable",
+   shutil.which("gcc") is None,
+    reason="needs a working gcc to link the executable",
 )
 def test_end_to_end_build_from_outside_produces_the_binary(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     """No stubs: the real ninja run must produce the real executable."""
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_footprint.py b/tests/unit/test_footprint.py
index 3e20168..74474b5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_footprint.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_footprint.py
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ class TestMeasure:
     )
 
     def test_measures_a_real_binary(self, tmp_path):
+        if shutil.which("gcc") is None:
+            pytest.skip("needs a working gcc to compile the test binary")
+
         src = tmp_path / "m.c"
         src.write_text("static char buf[4096];\nint main(void){return buf[0];}\n")
         # gcc on Windows appends .exe when -o names no extension, so the