diff --git a/activesupport/test/message_encryptor_test.rb b/activesupport/test/message_encryptor_test.rb
index 2fba62bdd60..684b9311761 100644
--- a/activesupport/test/message_encryptor_test.rb
+++ b/activesupport/test/message_encryptor_test.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 require 'abstract_unit'
+
+begin
+  require 'openssl'
+  OpenSSL::Digest::SHA1
+rescue LoadError, NameError
+  $stderr.puts "Skipping MessageEncryptor test: broken OpenSSL install"
+else
+
 require 'active_support/time'
 
 class MessageEncryptorTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
@@ -45,3 +53,5 @@ class MessageEncryptorTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       ActiveSupport::Base64.encode64s(bits)
     end
 end
+
+end