diff --git a/doc/index.txt b/doc/index.txt
index 77b607f46..46f720a5f 100644
--- a/doc/index.txt
+++ b/doc/index.txt
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@ documentation on the most interesting ones:
 
 `py.test`_ write and deploy unit- and functional tests to multiple machines. 
 
-`py.execnet`_ elastic distributed programming.
-
 `py.code`_: generate code and use advanced introspection/traceback support. 
 
 `py.path`_: use path objects to transparently access local and svn filesystems.
@@ -33,7 +31,6 @@ For the latest Release, see `PyPI project page`_
 
 .. _`download and installation`: download.html
 .. _`py-dev at codespeak net`: http://codespeak.net/mailman/listinfo/py-dev 
-.. _`py.execnet`: execnet.html 
 .. _`py.log`: log.html
 .. _`py.io`: io.html
 .. _`py.path`: path.html
diff --git a/doc/path.txt b/doc/path.txt
index 640f8dbcf..8b82aaab7 100644
--- a/doc/path.txt
+++ b/doc/path.txt
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ on the `svn` command line, not on the bindings.
 It makes sense now to directly use the bindings. 
 
 Moreover, it would be good, also considering 
-`py.execnet`_ distribution of programs, to
+`execnet`_ distribution of programs, to
 be able to manipulate Windows Paths on Linux
 and vice versa.  So we'd like to consider
 refactoring the path implementations 
@@ -269,5 +269,5 @@ the quite full interface without requiring
 to know about all details of the full path 
 implementation. 
 
-.. _`py.execnet`: execnet.html
+.. _`execnet`: execnet.html
 
diff --git a/doc/test/dist.txt b/doc/test/dist.txt
index 45fcf05f3..6b44cd69b 100644
--- a/doc/test/dist.txt
+++ b/doc/test/dist.txt
@@ -11,10 +11,8 @@ synchronizes your program source code to the remote place.  All test results
 are reported back and displayed to your local test session.  You may 
 specify different Python versions and interpreters.
 
-Synchronisation and running of tests only requires
-a bare Python installation on the remote side.   No
-special software is installed - this is realized 
-by use of the **zero installation** `py.execnet`_ mechanisms.
+**Requirements**: you need to install the `execnet`_ package 
+to perform distributed test runs.  
 
 Speed up test runs by sending tests to multiple CPUs
 ----------------------------------------------------------
@@ -90,13 +88,13 @@ The basic command to run tests on multiple platforms is::
 If you specify a windows host, an OSX host and a Linux
 environment this command will send each tests to all 
 platforms - and report back failures from all platforms
-at once.   The provided specifications strings 
-use the `xspec syntax`_. 
+at once.   The specifications strings use the `xspec syntax`_. 
 
-.. _`xspec syntax`: ../execnet.html#xspec
+.. _`xspec syntax`: http://codespeak.net/execnet/trunk/basics.html#xspec
 
 .. _`socketserver.py`: http://codespeak.net/svn/py/dist/py/execnet/script/socketserver.py
-.. _`py.execnet`: ../execnet.html
+
+.. _`execnet`: http://codespeak.net/execnet
 
 Specifying test exec environments in a conftest.py
 -------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/doc/xml.txt b/doc/xml.txt
index ba4a2ef73..21cb8913e 100644
--- a/doc/xml.txt
+++ b/doc/xml.txt
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ The py lib strives to offer enough functionality to represent
 itself and especially its API in html or xml.  
 
 .. _xist: http://www.livinglogic.de/Python/xist/index.html
-.. _`exchange data`: execnet.html#exchange-data 
 
 a pythonic object model , please 
 ================================
diff --git a/py/test/dist/mypickle.py b/py/test/dist/mypickle.py
index d1aa14842..fb2bdbd9f 100644
--- a/py/test/dist/mypickle.py
+++ b/py/test/dist/mypickle.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 """
 
 import py
-from execnet.gateway_base import Channel
 import sys, os, struct
 #debug = open("log-mypickle-%d" % os.getpid(), 'w')
 
@@ -139,6 +138,7 @@ class PickleChannel(object):
         self.RemoteError = channel.RemoteError
 
     def send(self, obj):
+        from execnet.gateway_base import Channel
         if not isinstance(obj, Channel):
             pickled_obj = self._ipickle.dumps(obj)
             self._channel.send(pickled_obj)
diff --git a/py/test/parseopt.py b/py/test/parseopt.py
index d3a084894..7b10c0a9b 100644
--- a/py/test/parseopt.py
+++ b/py/test/parseopt.py
@@ -24,12 +24,16 @@ class Parser:
         self._groups = [self._anonymous]
         self._processopt = processopt
         self._usage = usage 
+        self.epilog = "" 
 
     def processoption(self, option):
         if self._processopt:
             if option.dest:
                 self._processopt(option)
 
+    def addnote(self, note):
+        self._notes.append(note)
+
     def addgroup(self, name, description=""):
         for group in self._groups:
             if group.name == name:
@@ -51,6 +55,7 @@ class Parser:
     def parse(self, args):
         optparser = optparse.OptionParser(usage=self._usage)
         # make sure anaonymous group is at the end 
+        optparser.epilog = self.epilog
         groups = self._groups[1:] + [self._groups[0]]
         for group in groups:
             if group.options:
diff --git a/py/test/plugin/pytest_default.py b/py/test/plugin/pytest_default.py
index 18655dd71..543f11f14 100644
--- a/py/test/plugin/pytest_default.py
+++ b/py/test/plugin/pytest_default.py
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@
 import sys
 import py
 
+try:
+    import execnet
+except ImportError:
+    execnet = None
+
 def pytest_pyfunc_call(__multicall__, pyfuncitem):
     if not __multicall__.execute():
         testfunction = pyfuncitem.obj 
@@ -63,14 +68,22 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
                help="traceback verboseness (long/short/no).")
     group._addoption('-p', action="append", dest="plugins", default = [],
                help=("load the specified plugin after command line parsing. "))
-    group._addoption('-f', '--looponfail',
-               action="store_true", dest="looponfail", default=False,
-               help="run tests, re-run failing test set until all pass.")
+    if execnet:
+        group._addoption('-f', '--looponfail',
+                   action="store_true", dest="looponfail", default=False,
+                   help="run tests, re-run failing test set until all pass.")
 
     group = parser.addgroup("debugconfig", "test process debugging and configuration")
     group.addoption('--basetemp', dest="basetemp", default=None, metavar="dir",
                help="base temporary directory for this test run.")
 
+    if execnet:
+        add_dist_options(parser)
+    else:
+        parser.epilog = (
+        "execnet missing: --looponfailing and distributed testing not available.")
+
+def add_dist_options(parser):
     group = parser.addgroup("dist", "distributed testing") #  see http://pytest.org/help/dist")
     group._addoption('--dist', metavar="distmode", 
                action="store", choices=['load', 'each', 'no'], 
@@ -97,18 +110,19 @@ def pytest_configure(config):
     setsession(config)
 
 def fixoptions(config):
-    if config.option.numprocesses:
-        config.option.dist = "load"
-        config.option.tx = ['popen'] * int(config.option.numprocesses)
-    if config.option.distload:
-        config.option.dist = "load"
+    if execnet:
+        if config.option.numprocesses:
+            config.option.dist = "load"
+            config.option.tx = ['popen'] * int(config.option.numprocesses)
+        if config.option.distload:
+            config.option.dist = "load"
 
 def setsession(config):
     val = config.getvalue
     if val("collectonly"):
         from py.__.test.session import Session
         config.setsessionclass(Session)
-    else:
+    elif execnet:
         if val("looponfail"):
             from py.__.test.looponfail.remote import LooponfailingSession
             config.setsessionclass(LooponfailingSession)
diff --git a/py/test/plugin/pytest_pdb.py b/py/test/plugin/pytest_pdb.py
index 13708f8b9..8925c5cc8 100644
--- a/py/test/plugin/pytest_pdb.py
+++ b/py/test/plugin/pytest_pdb.py
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ interactive debugging with the Python Debugger.
 import py
 import pdb, sys, linecache
 from py.__.test.outcome import Skipped
+try:
+    import execnet
+except ImportError:
+    execnet = None
 
 def pytest_addoption(parser):
     group = parser.getgroup("general") 
@@ -14,10 +18,11 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
 
 def pytest_configure(config):
     if config.option.usepdb:
-        if config.getvalue("looponfail"):
-            raise config.Error("--pdb incompatible with --looponfail.")
-        if config.option.dist != "no":
-            raise config.Error("--pdb incompatible with distributing tests.")
+        if execnet:
+            if config.getvalue("looponfail"):
+                raise config.Error("--pdb incompatible with --looponfail.")
+            if config.option.dist != "no":
+                raise config.Error("--pdb incompatible with distributing tests.")
         config.pluginmanager.register(PdbInvoke())
 
 class PdbInvoke:
diff --git a/py/test/plugin/pytest_terminal.py b/py/test/plugin/pytest_terminal.py
index 4996d0fbe..e6775de1f 100644
--- a/py/test/plugin/pytest_terminal.py
+++ b/py/test/plugin/pytest_terminal.py
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ class TerminalReporter:
         self.stats.setdefault('deselected', []).append(items)
 
     def pytest_itemstart(self, item, node=None):
-        if self.config.option.dist != "no":
+        if getattr(self.config.option, 'dist', 'no') != "no":
             # for dist-testing situations itemstart means we 
             # queued the item for sending, not interesting (unless debugging) 
             if self.config.option.debug:
diff --git a/testing/pytest/dist/conftest.py b/testing/pytest/dist/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..970af937a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/pytest/dist/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+try:
+    import execnet
+except ImportError:
+    collect_ignore = ['.']
diff --git a/testing/pytest/looponfail/test_remote.py b/testing/pytest/looponfail/test_remote.py
index 5cd039e45..031db33e8 100644
--- a/testing/pytest/looponfail/test_remote.py
+++ b/testing/pytest/looponfail/test_remote.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import py
+py.test.importorskip("execnet")
 from py.__.test.looponfail.remote import LooponfailingSession, LoopState, RemoteControl 
 
 class TestRemoteControl:
diff --git a/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_default.py b/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_default.py
index 0268837d5..7c972ae73 100644
--- a/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_default.py
+++ b/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_default.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ def test_implied_different_sessions(tmpdir):
             return Exception
         return getattr(config._sessionclass, '__name__', None)
     assert x() == None
+    py.test.importorskip("execnet")
     assert x('-d') == 'DSession'
     assert x('--dist=each') == 'DSession'
     assert x('-n3') == 'DSession'
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@ def test_plugin_already_exists(testdir):
 
 
 class TestDistOptions:
+    def setup_method(self, method):
+        py.test.importorskip("execnet")
     def test_getxspecs(self, testdir):
         config = testdir.parseconfigure("--tx=popen", "--tx", "ssh=xyz")
         xspecs = config.getxspecs()
@@ -64,13 +67,13 @@ class TestDistOptions:
         assert py.path.local('z') in roots 
         assert testdir.tmpdir.join('x') in roots 
 
-def test_dist_options(testdir):
-    config = testdir.parseconfigure("-n 2")
-    assert config.option.dist == "load"
-    assert config.option.tx == ['popen'] * 2
-    
-    config = testdir.parseconfigure("-d")
-    assert config.option.dist == "load"
+    def test_dist_options(self, testdir):
+        config = testdir.parseconfigure("-n 2")
+        assert config.option.dist == "load"
+        assert config.option.tx == ['popen'] * 2
+        
+        config = testdir.parseconfigure("-d")
+        assert config.option.dist == "load"
 
 def test_pytest_report_iteminfo():
     class FakeItem(object):
diff --git a/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_pdb.py b/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_pdb.py
index fd8608ccb..638a98922 100644
--- a/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_pdb.py
+++ b/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_pdb.py
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ class TestPDB:
         if child.isalive(): 
             child.wait()
 
-    def test_incompatibility_messages(self, testdir):
+    def test_dist_incompatibility_messages(self, testdir):
+        py.test.importorskip("execnet")
         Error = py.test.config.Error
         py.test.raises(Error, "testdir.parseconfigure('--pdb', '--looponfail')")
         result = testdir.runpytest("--pdb", "-n", "3")
diff --git a/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_terminal.py b/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_terminal.py
index c2e09bb37..c0621a334 100644
--- a/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_terminal.py
+++ b/testing/pytest/plugin/test_pytest_terminal.py
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ terminal reporting of the full testing process.
 """
 import py
 import sys
+try:
+    import execnet
+except ImportError:
+    execnet = None
 
 # ===============================================================================
 # plugin tests 
@@ -42,7 +46,7 @@ def pytest_generate_tests(metafunc):
             funcargs={'option': Option(verbose=True)}
         )
         nodist = getattr(metafunc.function, 'nodist', False)
-        if not nodist:
+        if execnet and not nodist:
             metafunc.addcall(
                 id="verbose-dist", 
                 funcargs={'option': Option(dist='each', verbose=True)}
@@ -602,9 +606,10 @@ class TestTerminalFunctional:
             "*test_verbose_reporting.py:10: test_gen*FAIL*",
         ])
         assert result.ret == 1
-        result = testdir.runpytest(p1, '-v', '-n 1')
-        result.stdout.fnmatch_lines([
-            "*FAIL*test_verbose_reporting.py:2: test_fail*", 
-        ])
-        assert result.ret == 1
+        if execnet:
+            result = testdir.runpytest(p1, '-v', '-n 1')
+            result.stdout.fnmatch_lines([
+                "*FAIL*test_verbose_reporting.py:2: test_fail*", 
+            ])
+            assert result.ret == 1
 
diff --git a/testing/pytest/test_config.py b/testing/pytest/test_config.py
index bb6505305..04011773f 100644
--- a/testing/pytest/test_config.py
+++ b/testing/pytest/test_config.py
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ class TestOptionEffects:
         config = py.test.config._reparse([tmpdir])
         config.initsession()
         assert not config.option.boxed
+        py.test.importorskip("execnet")
         config = py.test.config._reparse(['-d', tmpdir])
         config.initsession()
         assert not config.option.boxed
diff --git a/testing/pytest/test_parseopt.py b/testing/pytest/test_parseopt.py
index 50ee7b90c..6d344f246 100644
--- a/testing/pytest/test_parseopt.py
+++ b/testing/pytest/test_parseopt.py
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ class TestParser:
         out, err = capsys.readouterr()
         assert out.find("xyz") != -1
 
+    def test_epilog(self):
+        parser = parseopt.Parser()
+        assert not parser.epilog 
+        parser.epilog += "hello"
+        assert parser.epilog == "hello"
+
     def test_group_add_and_get(self):
         parser = parseopt.Parser()
         group = parser.addgroup("hello", description="desc")
@@ -70,6 +76,15 @@ class TestParser:
         args = parser.parse_setoption([], option)
         assert option.hello == "x"
 
+    def test_parser_epilog(self, testdir):
+        testdir.makeconftest("""
+            def pytest_addoption(parser):
+                parser.epilog = "hello world"
+        """)
+        result = testdir.runpytest('--help')
+        #assert result.ret != 0
+        assert result.stdout.fnmatch_lines(["*hello world*"])
+
     def test_parse_setoption(self):
         parser = parseopt.Parser()
         parser.addoption("--hello", dest="hello", action="store")