diff --git a/contrib/requirements/requirements.txt b/contrib/requirements/requirements.txt
index a419b0bfd..312d955a1 100644
--- a/contrib/requirements/requirements.txt
+++ b/contrib/requirements/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-pyaes>=0.1a1
 ecdsa>=0.14
 qrcode
 protobuf>=3.12
diff --git a/electrum/crypto.py b/electrum/crypto.py
index 7fda99aaa..3a0678535 100644
--- a/electrum/crypto.py
+++ b/electrum/crypto.py
@@ -30,12 +30,18 @@ import hashlib
 import hmac
 from typing import Union
 
-import pyaes
-
 from .util import assert_bytes, InvalidPassword, to_bytes, to_string, WalletFileException
 from .i18n import _
 
 
+HAS_PYAES = False
+try:
+    import pyaes
+except:
+    pass
+else:
+    HAS_PYAES = True
+
 HAS_CRYPTODOME = False
 try:
     from Cryptodome.Cipher import ChaCha20_Poly1305 as CD_ChaCha20_Poly1305
@@ -97,10 +103,12 @@ def aes_encrypt_with_iv(key: bytes, iv: bytes, data: bytes) -> bytes:
         cipher = CG_Cipher(CG_algorithms.AES(key), CG_modes.CBC(iv), backend=CG_default_backend())
         encryptor = cipher.encryptor()
         e = encryptor.update(data) + encryptor.finalize()
-    else:
+    elif HAS_PYAES:
         aes_cbc = pyaes.AESModeOfOperationCBC(key, iv=iv)
         aes = pyaes.Encrypter(aes_cbc, padding=pyaes.PADDING_NONE)
         e = aes.feed(data) + aes.feed()  # empty aes.feed() flushes buffer
+    else:
+        raise Exception("no AES backend found")
     return e
 
 
@@ -113,10 +121,12 @@ def aes_decrypt_with_iv(key: bytes, iv: bytes, data: bytes) -> bytes:
         cipher = CG_Cipher(CG_algorithms.AES(key), CG_modes.CBC(iv), backend=CG_default_backend())
         decryptor = cipher.decryptor()
         data = decryptor.update(data) + decryptor.finalize()
-    else:
+    elif HAS_PYAES:
         aes_cbc = pyaes.AESModeOfOperationCBC(key, iv=iv)
         aes = pyaes.Decrypter(aes_cbc, padding=pyaes.PADDING_NONE)
         data = aes.feed(data) + aes.feed()  # empty aes.feed() flushes buffer
+    else:
+        raise Exception("no AES backend found")
     try:
         return strip_PKCS7_padding(data)
     except InvalidPadding:
diff --git a/electrum/tests/test_bitcoin.py b/electrum/tests/test_bitcoin.py
index a22fc6b16..9d5ed59ef 100644
--- a/electrum/tests/test_bitcoin.py
+++ b/electrum/tests/test_bitcoin.py
@@ -46,18 +46,21 @@ def needs_test_with_all_aes_implementations(func):
             return
         has_cryptodome = crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME
         has_cryptography = crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY
+        has_pyaes = crypto.HAS_PYAES
         try:
-            (crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME, crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY) = False, False
-            func(*args, **kwargs)  # pyaes
+            if has_pyaes:
+                (crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME, crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY, crypto.HAS_PYAES) = False, False, True
+                func(*args, **kwargs)  # pyaes
             if has_cryptodome:
-                (crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME, crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY) = True, False
+                (crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME, crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY, crypto.HAS_PYAES) = True, False, False
                 func(*args, **kwargs)  # cryptodome
             if has_cryptography:
-                (crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME, crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY) = False, True
+                (crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME, crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY, crypto.HAS_PYAES) = False, True, False
                 func(*args, **kwargs)  # cryptography
         finally:
             crypto.HAS_CRYPTODOME = has_cryptodome
             crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY = has_cryptography
+            crypto.HAS_PYAES = has_pyaes
     return run_test
 
 
@@ -101,6 +104,10 @@ class Test_bitcoin(ElectrumTestCase):
         # we want the unit testing framework to test with cryptography available.
         self.assertTrue(bool(crypto.HAS_CRYPTOGRAPHY))
 
+    def test_pyaes_is_available(self):
+        # we want the unit testing framework to test with pyaes available.
+        self.assertTrue(bool(crypto.HAS_PYAES))
+
     @needs_test_with_all_aes_implementations
     def test_crypto(self):
         for message in [b"Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks", b'\xff'*512]:
diff --git a/run_electrum b/run_electrum
index 7102725fb..67776d94f 100755
--- a/run_electrum
+++ b/run_electrum
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ def check_imports():
     # pure-python dependencies need to be imported here for pyinstaller
     try:
         import dns
-        import pyaes
         import ecdsa
         import certifi
         import qrcode
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 53701e690..68fac9e69 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ extras_require = {
     'hardware': requirements_hw,
     'gui': ['pyqt5'],
     'crypto': ['cryptography>=2.1'],
-    'tests': ['pycryptodomex>=3.7', 'cryptography>=2.1'],
+    'tests': ['pycryptodomex>=3.7', 'cryptography>=2.1', 'pyaes>=0.1a1'],
 }
 # 'full' extra that tries to grab everything an enduser would need (except for libsecp256k1...)
 extras_require['full'] = [pkg for sublist in