Index: Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py	(revision 74029)
+++ Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py	(working copy)
@@ -19,10 +19,18 @@
 except ImportError:
     ZIP_SUPPORT = find_executable('zip')
 
+# some tests will fail if zlib is not available
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
+
 class ArchiveUtilTestCase(support.TempdirManager,
                           support.LoggingSilencer,
                           unittest.TestCase):
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "Requires zlib")
     def test_make_tarball(self):
         # creating something to tar
         tmpdir = self.mkdtemp()
@@ -83,6 +91,7 @@
         base_name = os.path.join(tmpdir2, 'archive')
         return tmpdir, tmpdir2, base_name
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "Requires zlib")
     @unittest.skipUnless(find_executable('tar') and find_executable('gzip'),
                          'Need the tar command to run')
     def test_tarfile_vs_tar(self):
@@ -168,6 +177,7 @@
         self.assertTrue(not os.path.exists(tarball))
         self.assertEquals(len(w.warnings), 1)
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(zlib, "Requires zlib")
     @unittest.skipUnless(ZIP_SUPPORT, 'Need zip support to run')
     def test_make_zipfile(self):
         # creating something to tar
Index: Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py	(revision 74029)
+++ Lib/distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py	(working copy)
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@
 import sys
 import os
 
+# zlib is not used here, but if it's not available
+# test_simple_built will fail
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
+from unittest import skipUnless
+
 from distutils.core import Distribution
 from distutils.command.bdist_dumb import bdist_dumb
 from distutils.tests import support
@@ -31,6 +40,7 @@
         sys.argv = self.old_sys_argv[:]
         super(BuildDumbTestCase, self).tearDown()
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_simple_built(self):
 
         # let's create a simple package
Index: Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py	(revision 74029)
+++ Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py	(working copy)
@@ -3,11 +3,21 @@
 import unittest
 import shutil
 import zipfile
+
+# zlib is not used here, but if it's not available
+# the tests that use zipfile may fail
+try:
+    import zlib
+except ImportError:
+    zlib = None
+
 from os.path import join
 import sys
 import tempfile
 import warnings
 
+from unittest import skipUnless
+
 from test.test_support import check_warnings
 from test.test_support import captured_stdout
 
@@ -79,6 +89,7 @@
         cmd.warn = _warn
         return dist, cmd
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_prune_file_list(self):
         # this test creates a package with some vcs dirs in it
         # and launch sdist to make sure they get pruned
@@ -120,6 +131,7 @@
         # making sure everything has been pruned correctly
         self.assertEquals(len(content), 4)
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_make_distribution(self):
 
         # check if tar and gzip are installed
@@ -156,6 +168,7 @@
         self.assertEquals(result,
                 ['fake-1.0.tar', 'fake-1.0.tar.gz'])
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_add_defaults(self):
 
         # http://bugs.python.org/issue2279
@@ -217,6 +230,7 @@
         manifest = open(join(self.tmp_dir, 'MANIFEST')).read()
         self.assertEquals(manifest, MANIFEST % {'sep': os.sep})
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_metadata_check_option(self):
         # testing the `medata-check` option
         dist, cmd = self.get_cmd(metadata={})
Index: Lib/test/test_gzip.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_gzip.py	(revision 74029)
+++ Lib/test/test_gzip.py	(working copy)
@@ -5,10 +5,9 @@
 import unittest
 from test import test_support
 import os
-import gzip
 import struct
+gzip = test_support.import_module('gzip')
 
-
 data1 = """  int length=DEFAULTALLOC, err = Z_OK;
   PyObject *RetVal;
   int flushmode = Z_FINISH;
Index: Lib/test/test_zipimport.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_zipimport.py	(revision 74029)
+++ Lib/test/test_zipimport.py	(working copy)
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@
 import time
 import unittest
 
-import zlib # implied prerequisite
-from zipfile import ZipFile, ZipInfo, ZIP_STORED, ZIP_DEFLATED
 from test import test_support
 from test.test_importhooks import ImportHooksBaseTestCase, test_src, test_co
 
+zlib = test_support.import_module('zlib')
+from zipfile import ZipFile, ZipInfo, ZIP_STORED, ZIP_DEFLATED
+
 import zipimport
 import linecache
 import doctest
Index: Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_zipfile.py	(revision 74029)
+++ Lib/test/test_zipfile.py	(working copy)
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@
         self.assertEqual(zipfp.read(TESTFN), file(TESTFN).read())
         zipfp.close()
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_per_file_compression(self):
         # Check that files within a Zip archive can have different compression options
         zipfp = zipfile.ZipFile(TESTFN2, "w")
@@ -872,6 +873,7 @@
         self.zip2.setpassword("perl")
         self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, self.zip2.read, "zero")
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
     def test_good_password(self):
         self.zip.setpassword("python")
         self.assertEquals(self.zip.read("test.txt"), self.plain)
@@ -972,6 +974,7 @@
             self.zip_random_open_test(f, zipfile.ZIP_STORED)
 
 
+@skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
 class TestsWithMultipleOpens(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         # Create the ZIP archive