diff --git a/R/utils_threads.R b/R/utils_threads.R
index 405bb7cf..1edb85f3 100644
--- a/R/utils_threads.R
+++ b/R/utils_threads.R
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ get_lidr_threads = function()
 #' @noRd
 try_to_get_num_future_cores = function()
 {
+  if (!"future" %in% rownames(installed.packages()))
+    return(1L)
+
   # nocov start
 
   # get the current plan