diff --git a/pyart/__init__.py b/pyart/__init__.py
index 1e5e0f3782..fbd6007e5d 100644
--- a/pyart/__init__.py
+++ b/pyart/__init__.py
@@ -57,40 +57,3 @@
 except DistributionNotFound:
     # package is not installed
     __version__ = '0.0.0'
-
-try:
-    if _sys.version_info[:2] >= (3, 4):
-        import importlib as _importlib
-        specs = _importlib.util.find_spec('pytest')
-        specs.loader.load_module()
-    else:
-        import imp as _imp
-        _imp.find_module('pytest')
-except (AttributeError, ImportError) as error:
-    def _test(verbose=False):
-        """
-        This would invoke the Py-ART test suite, but pytest couldn't
-        be imported so the test suite can not run.
-        """
-        raise ImportError("Could not load pytest. Unit tests not available."
-                            " To run unit tests, please install pytest.")
-else:
-    def _test(verbose=False):
-        """
-        Invoke the Py-ART test suite.
-        """
-        import pytest
-        pkg_dir = _osp.abspath(_osp.dirname(__file__))
-        args = [pkg_dir, '--pyargs', 'pyart']
-        if verbose:
-            args.extend(['-v', '-s'])
-        pytest.main(args=args)
-
-# Do not use `test` as function name as this leads to a recursion problem
-# with the pytest test suite.
-#test = _test
-#test_verbose = _functools.partial(test, verbose=True)
-#test_verbose.__doc__ = test.__doc_
-
-#vdict = get_version()
-#__version__ = vdict['version']_