diff --git a/PIL/Image.py b/PIL/Image.py
index a0ba25b8c..be7fbb500 100644
--- a/PIL/Image.py
+++ b/PIL/Image.py
@@ -123,6 +123,16 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     HAS_CFFI = False
 
+try:
+    from pathlib import Path
+    HAS_PATHLIB = True
+except ImportError:
+    try:
+        from pathlib2 import Path
+        HAS_PATHLIB = True
+    except ImportError:
+        HAS_PATHLIB = False
+
 
 def isImageType(t):
     """
@@ -1875,11 +1885,9 @@ class Image(object):
         if isPath(fp):
             filename = fp
             open_fp = True
-        elif sys.version_info >= (3, 4):
-            from pathlib import Path
-            if isinstance(fp, Path):
-                filename = str(fp)
-                open_fp = True
+        elif HAS_PATHLIB and isinstance(fp, Path):
+            filename = str(fp)
+            open_fp = True
         if not filename and hasattr(fp, "name") and isPath(fp.name):
             # only set the name for metadata purposes
             filename = fp.name
@@ -2516,13 +2524,8 @@ def open(fp, mode="r"):
     filename = ""
     if isPath(fp):
         filename = fp
-    else:
-        try:
-            from pathlib import Path
-            if isinstance(fp, Path):
-                filename = str(fp.resolve())
-        except ImportError:
-            pass
+    elif HAS_PATHLIB and isinstance(fp, Path):
+        filename = str(fp.resolve())
 
     if filename:
         fp = builtins.open(filename, "rb")
diff --git a/Tests/test_image.py b/Tests/test_image.py
index 0c104f0aa..e65e0e4c7 100644
--- a/Tests/test_image.py
+++ b/Tests/test_image.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ from helper import unittest, PillowTestCase, hopper
 
 from PIL import Image
 import os
-import sys
 
 
 class TestImage(PillowTestCase):
@@ -72,10 +71,9 @@ class TestImage(PillowTestCase):
     def test_bad_mode(self):
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, Image.open, "filename", "bad mode")
 
-    @unittest.skipIf(sys.version_info < (3, 4),
-                     "pathlib only available in Python 3.4 or later")
+    @unittest.skipUnless(Image.HAS_PATHLIB, "requires pathlib/pathlib2")
     def test_pathlib(self):
-        from pathlib import Path
+        from PIL.Image import Path
         im = Image.open(Path("Tests/images/hopper.jpg"))
         self.assertEqual(im.mode, "RGB")
         self.assertEqual(im.size, (128, 128))