diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 5bee0c14..88df690c 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@ Imports:
     tidyr,
     tune (>= 1.2.0),
     vctrs (>= 0.6.1),
-    workflows (>= 1.1.4),
-    yardstick (>= 1.1.0)
+    workflows (>= 1.1.4)
 Suggests: 
     covr,
     h2o,
@@ -51,7 +50,8 @@ Suggests:
     ranger,
     rmarkdown,
     testthat (>= 3.0.0),
-    workflowsets (>= 0.1.0)
+    workflowsets (>= 0.1.0),
+    yardstick (>= 1.1.0)
 VignetteBuilder: 
     knitr
 Config/Needs/website: tidyverse/tidytemplate
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 1e42dde9..252f6393 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -77,4 +77,3 @@ importFrom(ggplot2,autoplot)
 importFrom(rlang,"%||%")
 importFrom(rlang,caller_env)
 importFrom(stats,predict)
-importFrom(yardstick,metric_set)
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index 02c44f13..32c60e9e 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -163,8 +163,3 @@ mode_is_regression <- function(x) {
   }
   x
 }
-
-# quiet R-CMD-check NOTEs that yardstick is unused
-# (see example data .Rmds for usage)
-#' @importFrom yardstick metric_set
-NULL
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_add_candidates.R b/tests/testthat/test_add_candidates.R
index f8c890af..775e0245 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_add_candidates.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_add_candidates.R
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ library(kernlab)
 skip_if_not_installed("nnet")
 library(nnet)
 
+skip_if_not_installed("yardstick")
+
 test_that("stack can add candidates (regression)", {
   skip_on_cran()
   
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_blend_predictions.R b/tests/testthat/test_blend_predictions.R
index b6e7d01b..fb1c17f6 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_blend_predictions.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_blend_predictions.R
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ library(kernlab)
 skip_if_not_installed("nnet")
 library(nnet)
 
+skip_if_not_installed("yardstick")
+
 test_that("blend_predictions works", {
   skip_on_cran()
   
diff --git a/vignettes/classification.Rmd b/vignettes/classification.Rmd
index 187101df..6bd28125 100644
--- a/vignettes/classification.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/classification.Rmd
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ library(rsample)
 library(parsnip)
 library(workflows)
 library(recipes)
-library(yardstick)
 library(stacks)
 library(purrr)
 library(dplyr)
@@ -38,8 +37,10 @@ library(ggplot2)
 ```{r, include = FALSE}
 if (rlang::is_installed("ranger") && 
     rlang::is_installed("nnet") &&
-    rlang::is_installed("kernlab")) {
+    rlang::is_installed("kernlab") &&
+    rlang::is_installed("yardstick")) {
   run <- TRUE
+  library(yardstick)
 } else {
   run <- FALSE
 }