diff --git a/include/mapnik/value.hpp b/include/mapnik/value.hpp
index e04ea1d10..41ec287c9 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/value.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/value.hpp
@@ -985,13 +985,6 @@ struct is_null : public boost::static_visitor<bool>
         boost::ignore_unused_variable_warning(val);
         return false;
     }
-
-    template <BOOST_VARIANT_ENUM_PARAMS(typename T)>
-    bool operator() (boost::variant<BOOST_VARIANT_ENUM_PARAMS(T)> const& val)
-        const
-    {
-        return boost::apply_visitor(*this, val);
-    }
 };
 
 } // namespace impl
diff --git a/tests/run_tests.py b/tests/run_tests.py
index 5d89dd9f3..45326b0ef 100755
--- a/tests/run_tests.py
+++ b/tests/run_tests.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 import sys
 
@@ -7,6 +8,12 @@ try:
 except ImportError, e:
     sys.stderr.write("Unable to run python tests: the third party 'nose' module is required\nTo install 'nose' do:\n\tsudo pip install nose (or on debian systems: apt-get install python-nose): %s\n" % e)
     sys.exit(1)
+
+try:
+    import mapnik
+except ImportError:
+    print '\x1b[31m✘\x1b[0m (\x1b[34m%s\x1b[0m)' % 'import mapnik failed - tests require python bindings'
+    sys.exit(0)
     
 from python_tests.utilities import TodoPlugin
 from nose.plugins.doctests import Doctest
diff --git a/tests/visual_tests/test.py b/tests/visual_tests/test.py
index 4c3ddee8a..5e0bc5306 100755
--- a/tests/visual_tests/test.py
+++ b/tests/visual_tests/test.py
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-import mapnik
-mapnik.logger.set_severity(mapnik.severity_type.None)
+import sys
+
+try:
+    import mapnik
+    mapnik.logger.set_severity(mapnik.severity_type.None)
+    #mapnik.logger.set_severity(mapnik.severity_type.Debug)
+except ImportError:
+    print '\x1b[31m✘\x1b[0m (\x1b[34m%s\x1b[0m)' % 'import mapnik failed - tests require python bindings'
+    sys.exit(0)
 
 import shutil
-import sys
 import os.path
 from compare import compare, compare_grids