diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c8c5843c68c..15f153afcd1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ which depend on `try-except` blocks containing network requests should be
 revisited.
 - `plotly.py:sign_in` now validates to the plotly server specified in your
   config. If it cannot make a successful request, it raises a `PlotlyError`.
+- `plotly.figure_factory` will raise an `ImportError` if `numpy` is not
+  installed.
 
 ### Deprecated
 - `plotly.tools.FigureFactory`. Use `plotly.figure_factory.*`.
diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index 62a7bdb505a..29fb8d4fa11 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -52,5 +52,9 @@ test:
     - sudo chmod -R 444 ${PLOTLY_CONFIG_DIR} && python -c "import plotly"
 
     # test that giving back write permissions works again
-    # this also has to pass the test suite that follows
     - sudo chmod -R 777 ${PLOTLY_CONFIG_DIR} && python -c "import plotly"
+
+    # test that figure_factory cannot be imported with only core requirements.
+    # since optional requirements is part of the test suite, we don't need to
+    # worry about testing that it *can* be imported in this case.
+    - $(! python -c "import plotly.figure_factory")
diff --git a/plotly/figure_factory/__init__.py b/plotly/figure_factory/__init__.py
index 11547989cf6..153ac6d657b 100644
--- a/plotly/figure_factory/__init__.py
+++ b/plotly/figure_factory/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
+# Require that numpy exists for figure_factory
+import numpy
+
 from plotly.figure_factory._2d_density import create_2d_density
 from plotly.figure_factory._annotated_heatmap import create_annotated_heatmap
 from plotly.figure_factory._candlestick import create_candlestick
diff --git a/plotly/tests/test_optional/test_tools/__init__.py b/plotly/tests/test_optional/test_tools/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/plotly/tests/test_core/test_tools/test_figure_factory.py b/plotly/tests/test_optional/test_tools/test_figure_factory.py
similarity index 100%
rename from plotly/tests/test_core/test_tools/test_figure_factory.py
rename to plotly/tests/test_optional/test_tools/test_figure_factory.py
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0e87794e7bb..1e66057b516 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ def readme():
                 'plotly/api/v2',
                 'plotly/plotly',
                 'plotly/plotly/chunked_requests',
+                'plotly/figure_factory',
                 'plotly/graph_objs',
                 'plotly/grid_objs',
                 'plotly/widgets',