diff --git a/roles/ipasmartcard_client/library/ipasmartcard_client_get_vars.py b/roles/ipasmartcard_client/library/ipasmartcard_client_get_vars.py
index ed1dc41efe551d449effa8c6092e0db5ccd0825f..6c83419d8ded8699a0968cbd05b972cd0e861696 100644
--- a/roles/ipasmartcard_client/library/ipasmartcard_client_get_vars.py
+++ b/roles/ipasmartcard_client/library/ipasmartcard_client_get_vars.py
@@ -64,7 +64,13 @@ python_interpreter:
 
 import sys
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
-from ipaplatform.paths import paths
+try:
+    from ipaplatform.paths import paths
+except ImportError as _err:
+    MODULE_IMPORT_ERROR = str(_err)
+    paths = None
+else:
+    MODULE_IMPORT_ERROR = None
 
 
 def main():
@@ -73,6 +79,9 @@ def main():
         supports_check_mode=False,
     )
 
+    if MODULE_IMPORT_ERROR is not None:
+        ansible_module.fail_json(msg=MODULE_IMPORT_ERROR)
+
     ansible_module.exit_json(changed=False,
                              NSS_DB_DIR=paths.NSS_DB_DIR,
                              USE_AUTHSELECT=hasattr(paths, "AUTHSELECT"),