diff --git a/src/pystencils_autodiff/backends/astnodes.py b/src/pystencils_autodiff/backends/astnodes.py
index 6b8f12d4b1057e3effc28c825b28017358dede44..c2258ce0542bb417f72d473e0415b1c5fea26997 100644
--- a/src/pystencils_autodiff/backends/astnodes.py
+++ b/src/pystencils_autodiff/backends/astnodes.py
@@ -140,7 +140,10 @@ setup_pybind11(cfg)
 """
 
     def compile(self):
-        import cppimport
+        try:
+            import cppimport
+        except ImportError:
+            assert False, 'cppimport ist required for compiling pybind11 modules'
 
         assert not self.is_cuda