diff --git a/js/package.json b/js/package.json
index d0a6b8a..d76d07c 100644
--- a/js/package.json
+++ b/js/package.json
@@ -27,5 +27,5 @@
   "scripts": {
     "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
   },
-  "version": "0.1.36"
-}
+  "version": "0.1.37"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/le_utils/constants/languages.py b/le_utils/constants/languages.py
index 7539ddf..49962b1 100644
--- a/le_utils/constants/languages.py
+++ b/le_utils/constants/languages.py
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 from collections import namedtuple
 
-import pycountry
+try:
+    import pycountry
+except ImportError:
+    pycountry = None
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("le_utils")
 logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
@@ -217,7 +220,7 @@ def getlang_by_native_name(native_name):
         return _LANGUAGE_NATIVE_NAME_LOOKUP.get(simple_native_name, None)
 
 
-def getlang_by_alpha2(code):
+def getlang_by_alpha2(code):  # noqa: C901
     """
     Lookup a Language object for language code `code` based on these strategies:
       - Special case rules for Hebrew and Chinese Hans/Hant scripts
@@ -225,6 +228,10 @@ def getlang_by_alpha2(code):
         language with the same `name` in the internal representaion
     Returns `None` if no matching language is found.
     """
+    if pycountry is None:
+        logger.warn("pycountry is not installed, cannot lookup language by alpha2")
+        return None
+
     # First try exact match to a language code in the internal representaion
     exact_match = getlang(code)
     if exact_match:
diff --git a/requirements-test.txt b/requirements-test.txt
index 504de7e..b793b77 100644
--- a/requirements-test.txt
+++ b/requirements-test.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
+pycountry==17.5.14
 pytest==3.7.1
 attrs==20.3.0
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 54a28c0..a954628 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -5,18 +5,19 @@
 
 long_description = io.open("README.md", encoding="utf-8").read()
 
-requirements = [
+lang_utils_requirements = [
     "pycountry==17.5.14",
 ]
 
 setup(
     name="le-utils",
     packages=find_packages(),
-    version="0.1.36",
+    version="0.1.37",
     description="LE-Utils contains shared constants used in Kolibri, Ricecooker, and Kolibri Studio.",
     long_description=long_description,
     long_description_content_type="text/markdown",
-    install_requires=requirements,
+    install_requires=[],
+    extras_require={"lang_utils": lang_utils_requirements},
     license="MIT",
     url="https://github.com/learningequality/le-utils",
     download_url="https://github.com/learningequality/le-utils/releases",