diff --git a/craft_cli/pytest_plugin.py b/craft_cli/pytest_plugin.py
index 46446266..9faaed20 100644
--- a/craft_cli/pytest_plugin.py
+++ b/craft_cli/pytest_plugin.py
@@ -25,7 +25,12 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Literal
 from unittest.mock import call
 
-import pytest
+try:
+    import pytest
+except ImportError as err:
+    raise ImportError(
+        "craft-cli's pytest plugin requires pytest; install it with 'craft-cli[pytest]'"
+    ) from err
 from typing_extensions import Self
 
 from craft_cli import messages, printer
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 5d1cbb8b..4ee4cae3 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -11,10 +11,17 @@ included in each version.
 3.4.2 (unreleased)
 ------------------
 
+New features:
+
+- Add an optional ``pytest`` dependency group (``craft-cli[pytest]``) to track
+  the minimum pytest version required by the ``emitter`` test plugin.
+
 Bug fixes:
 
 - The ``emitter`` test fixture now rejects a negative ``advance`` amount,
   matching the behavior of the real progress bar.
+- The ``emitter`` test plugin now reports a clear, actionable error message
+  when pytest is not installed, instead of a bare ``ModuleNotFoundError``.
 
 .. _release-3.4.1:
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 077e008b..f2b4e36e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ Issues = "https://github.com/canonical/craft-cli/issues"
 [project.entry-points.pytest11]
 emitter = "craft_cli.pytest_plugin"
 
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+pytest = ["pytest>=8.4"]
+
 [dependency-groups]
 dev = [
     "coverage[toml]==7.16.2",
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index c3706b84..eb750c73 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 version = 1
-revision = 5
+revision = 3
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 resolution-markers = [
     "python_full_version >= '3.15'",
@@ -582,6 +582,11 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "typing-extensions" },
 ]
 
+[package.optional-dependencies]
+pytest = [
+    { name = "pytest" },
+]
+
 [package.dev-dependencies]
 dev = [
     { name = "coverage", extra = ["toml"] },
@@ -617,9 +622,11 @@ types = [
 requires-dist = [
     { name = "jinja2", specifier = ">=3.1.5" },
     { name = "platformdirs" },
+    { name = "pytest", marker = "extra == 'pytest'", specifier = ">=8.4" },
     { name = "pywin32", marker = "sys_platform == 'win32'" },
     { name = "typing-extensions" },
 ]
+provides-extras = ["pytest"]
 
 [package.metadata.requires-dev]
 dev = [