diff --git a/dev-python/httplib2/httplib2-0.20.4.ebuild b/dev-python/httplib2/httplib2-0.20.4.ebuild
index bc4dff342200d..afa4a1e948403 100644
--- a/dev-python/httplib2/httplib2-0.20.4.ebuild
+++ b/dev-python/httplib2/httplib2-0.20.4.ebuild
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ PATCHES=( "${FILESDIR}"/${PN}-0.12.1-use-system-cacerts.patch )
 
 src_prepare() {
 	sed -i -e '/--cov/d' setup.cfg || die
+	# cryptography dep is entirely optional, and has a good fallback
+	sed -i -e 's:from cryptography.*:pass:' tests/__init__.py || die
 	distutils-r1_src_prepare
 }