diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ecbb1391..593193cd 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ dependencies = [
     "PyYAML>=6.0.1,<7",
     "jmespath>=1,<2",
     "jsonschema>=4,<5",
-    "paho-mqtt>=1.3.1,<=1.6.1",
     "pyjwt>=2.5.0,<3",
     "pykwalify>=1.8.0,<2",
     "pytest>=7.4,<8",
@@ -103,6 +102,9 @@ dev = [
     # "tbump@https://github.com/michaelboulton/tbump/archive/714ba8957a3c84b625608ceca39811ebe56229dc.zip",
 ]
 
+mqtt = [
+    "paho-mqtt>=1.3.1,<=1.6.1",
+]
 
 [project.scripts]
 
diff --git a/tavern/_core/plugins.py b/tavern/_core/plugins.py
index 8ac2dc0a..9ea40a34 100644
--- a/tavern/_core/plugins.py
+++ b/tavern/_core/plugins.py
@@ -194,11 +194,13 @@ def get_request_type(
         keys[p.plugin.request_block_name] = p.plugin.request_type
 
     if len(set(keys) & set(stage)) > 1:
-        logger.error("Can only specify 1 request type")
-        raise exceptions.DuplicateKeysError
+        raise exceptions.DuplicateKeysError(
+            f"Can only specify 1 request type but got {set(keys)}"
+        )
     elif not list(set(keys) & set(stage)):
-        logger.error("Need to specify one of '%s'", keys.keys())
-        raise exceptions.MissingKeysError
+        raise exceptions.MissingKeysError(
+            f"Need to specify one of valid request types: '{set(keys.keys())}'"
+        )
 
     # We've validated that 1 and only 1 is there, so just loop until the first
     # one is found
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index a770e583..e9a02cc3 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 import yaml
 
 import tavern
-import tavern._plugins.mqtt.tavernhook as mqtt_plugin
 from tavern._plugins.rest.tavernhook import TavernRestPlugin as rest_plugin
 
 
@@ -23,13 +22,23 @@ def set_plugins():
     def extension(name, point):
         return stevedore.extension.Extension(name, point, point, point)
 
-    tavern._core.plugins.load_plugins.plugins = [
+    plugins = [
         extension(
             "requests",
             rest_plugin,
         ),
-        extension(
-            "paho-mqtt",
-            mqtt_plugin,
-        ),
     ]
+
+    try:
+        import tavern._plugins.mqtt.tavernhook as mqtt_plugin
+    except ImportError:
+        pass
+    else:
+        plugins.append(
+            extension(
+                "paho-mqtt",
+                mqtt_plugin,
+            )
+        )
+
+    tavern._core.plugins.load_plugins.plugins = plugins
diff --git a/tox-integration.ini b/tox-integration.ini
index 9a7b7abc..4d5c1857 100644
--- a/tox-integration.ini
+++ b/tox-integration.ini
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ deps =
     colorlog
     mqtt: fluent-logger
 extras =
+    mqtt: mqtt
     grpc: grpc
 commands =
 ;    docker compose stop
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index aef629ac..c02a6ca0 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ install_command = python -m pip install {opts} {packages} -c constraints.txt
 extras =
     dev
     grpc
+    mqtt
 commands =
     {envbindir}/python -m pytest --cov-report term-missing --cov tavern {posargs}