diff --git a/templateflow/conf/__init__.py b/templateflow/conf/__init__.py
index 24b6df72..69a0c9cf 100644
--- a/templateflow/conf/__init__.py
+++ b/templateflow/conf/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 from warnings import warn
 from pathlib import Path
 from pkg_resources import resource_filename
-from .bids import Layout
 
 TF_DEFAULT_HOME = Path.home() / '.cache' / 'templateflow'
 TF_HOME = Path(getenv('TEMPLATEFLOW_HOME', str(TF_DEFAULT_HOME)))
@@ -76,6 +75,11 @@ def update_home(force=False):
     return False
 
 
-TF_LAYOUT = Layout(
-    str(TF_HOME), validate=False, config='templateflow',
-    ignore=['.git', '.datalad', '.gitannex', '.gitattributes', 'scripts'])
+TF_LAYOUT = None
+try:
+    from .bids import Layout
+    TF_LAYOUT = Layout(
+        str(TF_HOME), validate=False, config='templateflow',
+        ignore=['.git', '.datalad', '.gitannex', '.gitattributes', 'scripts'])
+except ImportError:
+    pass