diff --git a/gtk/meson.build b/gtk/meson.build
index 61185696dd..7ac245419a 100644
--- a/gtk/meson.build
+++ b/gtk/meson.build
@@ -1180,9 +1180,6 @@ libgtk = shared_library('gtk-4',
 gtk_dep_sources = [gtkversion, gtktypebuiltins_h]
 
 # Introspection
-gir = find_program('g-ir-scanner', required : get_option('introspection'))
-build_gir = gir.found() and (not meson.is_cross_build() or get_option('introspection').enabled())
-
 if build_gir
   gir_args = [
     '-DGTK_COMPILATION',
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d0d3b432c5..80304b0edd 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -728,6 +728,11 @@ int main () {
   endif
 endif
 
+# Introspection
+gir = find_program('g-ir-scanner', required : get_option('introspection'))
+build_gir = gir.found() and (not meson.is_cross_build() or get_option('introspection').enabled())
+
+
 project_build_root = meson.current_build_dir()
 
 subdir('gtk/css')
diff --git a/testsuite/introspection/api.py b/testsuite/introspection/api.py
index a2feac37ea..9bbbedfe13 100755
--- a/testsuite/introspection/api.py
+++ b/testsuite/introspection/api.py
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ if hasattr(os, 'add_dll_directory'):
         if path != '' and os.path.isdir(path):
             os.add_dll_directory(path)
 
-import gi
+try:
+    import gi
+except ImportError:
+    sys.exit(77) # skip this test, gi module is not available
 
 gi.require_version('Gtk', '4.0')
 
diff --git a/testsuite/introspection/meson.build b/testsuite/introspection/meson.build
index c64a0f54d3..a30c687353 100644
--- a/testsuite/introspection/meson.build
+++ b/testsuite/introspection/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-py = import('python').find_installation('python3', modules: ['gi'])
-
 env = environment()
 env.prepend('GI_TYPELIB_PATH',
   project_build_root / 'gtk',