diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index bbeac5baa..6be150e68 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ Changes between 1.1.2 and 1.1.1
 =====================================
 
 - fix assert reinterpreation that sees a call containing "keyword=..."
+- skip some install-tests if no execnet is available
 
 Changes between 1.1.1 and 1.1.0
 =====================================
diff --git a/bin-for-dist/test_install.py b/bin-for-dist/test_install.py
index e7ed972d8..62a875227 100644
--- a/bin-for-dist/test_install.py
+++ b/bin-for-dist/test_install.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import py
 import subprocess
 import os
-import execnet
+
+execnet = py.test.importorskip("execnet")
 
 
 #
diff --git a/conftest.py b/conftest.py
index 58944ad56..5296b3f9f 100644
--- a/conftest.py
+++ b/conftest.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import py
 
 pytest_plugins = '_pytest doctest pytester'.split()
 
+collect_ignore = ['build', 'doc/_build']
+
 
 rsyncdirs = ['conftest.py', 'bin', 'py', 'doc', 'testing']
 try: