diff --git a/ci/run_cudf_polars_polars_tests.sh b/ci/run_cudf_polars_polars_tests.sh
index b1bfac2a1dd..c851f65d4f6 100755
--- a/ci/run_cudf_polars_polars_tests.sh
+++ b/ci/run_cudf_polars_polars_tests.sh
@@ -28,8 +28,11 @@ if [[ $(arch) == "aarch64" ]]; then
     DESELECTED_TESTS+=("tests/unit/operations/test_join.py::test_join_4_columns_with_validity")
 else
     # Ensure that we don't run dbgen when it uses newer symbols than supported by the glibc version in the CI image.
+    # Allow errors since any of these commands could produce empty results that would cause the script to fail.
+    set +e
     glibc_minor_version=$(ldd --version | head -1 | grep -o "[0-9]\.[0-9]\+" | tail -1 | cut -d '.' -f2)
     latest_glibc_symbol_found=$(nm py-polars/tests/benchmark/data/pdsh/dbgen/dbgen | grep GLIBC | grep -o "[0-9]\.[0-9]\+" | sort --version-sort | tail -1 | cut -d "." -f 2)
+    set -e
     if [[ ${glibc_minor_version} -lt ${latest_glibc_symbol_found} ]]; then
         DESELECTED_TESTS+=("tests/benchmark/test_pdsh.py::test_pdsh")
     fi
diff --git a/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml b/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
index ecc490b378b..97c72ec8042 100644
--- a/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
+++ b/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ dependencies:
 - ptxcompiler
 - pyarrow>=14.0.0,<19.0.0a0
 - pydata-sphinx-theme!=0.14.2
+- pynvml>=11.4.1,<12.0.0a0
 - pytest-benchmark
 - pytest-cases>=3.8.2
 - pytest-cov
diff --git a/conda/environments/all_cuda-125_arch-x86_64.yaml b/conda/environments/all_cuda-125_arch-x86_64.yaml
index 4559829ac3a..84b58b6d7a4 100644
--- a/conda/environments/all_cuda-125_arch-x86_64.yaml
+++ b/conda/environments/all_cuda-125_arch-x86_64.yaml
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ dependencies:
 - pyarrow>=14.0.0,<19.0.0a0
 - pydata-sphinx-theme!=0.14.2
 - pynvjitlink>=0.0.0a0
+- pynvml>=11.4.1,<12.0.0a0
 - pytest-benchmark
 - pytest-cases>=3.8.2
 - pytest-cov
diff --git a/conda/recipes/dask-cudf/meta.yaml b/conda/recipes/dask-cudf/meta.yaml
index 1e6c0a35a09..74ecded8ead 100644
--- a/conda/recipes/dask-cudf/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda/recipes/dask-cudf/meta.yaml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ requirements:
   run:
     - python
     - cudf ={{ version }}
+    - pynvml >=11.4.1,<12.0.0a0
     - rapids-dask-dependency ={{ minor_version }}
     - {{ pin_compatible('cuda-version', max_pin='x', min_pin='x') }}
 
diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index 631ce12f0b0..3976696a41c 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -758,6 +758,7 @@ dependencies:
     common:
       - output_types: [conda, requirements, pyproject]
         packages:
+          - pynvml>=11.4.1,<12.0.0a0
           - rapids-dask-dependency==25.2.*,>=0.0.0a0
   run_custreamz:
     common:
diff --git a/python/dask_cudf/dask_cudf/io/parquet.py b/python/dask_cudf/dask_cudf/io/parquet.py
index bf8fae552c2..bbedd046760 100644
--- a/python/dask_cudf/dask_cudf/io/parquet.py
+++ b/python/dask_cudf/dask_cudf/io/parquet.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def _get_device_size():
             handle = pynvml.nvmlDeviceGetHandleByIndex(int(index))
         return pynvml.nvmlDeviceGetMemoryInfo(handle).total
 
-    except (ImportError, ValueError):
+    except ValueError:
         # Fall back to a conservative 8GiB default
         return 8 * 1024**3
 
diff --git a/python/dask_cudf/pyproject.toml b/python/dask_cudf/pyproject.toml
index 9364cc7647f..33ba8fe083f 100644
--- a/python/dask_cudf/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/dask_cudf/pyproject.toml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "fsspec>=0.6.0",
     "numpy>=1.23,<3.0a0",
     "pandas>=2.0,<2.2.4dev0",
+    "pynvml>=11.4.1,<12.0.0a0",
     "rapids-dask-dependency==25.2.*,>=0.0.0a0",
 ] # This list was generated by `rapids-dependency-file-generator`. To make changes, edit ../../dependencies.yaml and run `rapids-dependency-file-generator`.
 classifiers = [