diff --git a/beets/importer.py b/beets/importer.py
index 61ff1294a..951e0ac4e 100644
--- a/beets/importer.py
+++ b/beets/importer.py
@@ -665,7 +665,7 @@ def read_tasks(session):
             archive_task = ArchiveImportTask(toppath)
             try:
                 archive_task.extract()
-            except IOError as exc:
+            except Exception as exc:
                 log.error('extraction failed: {0}'.format(exc))
                 continue
             toppath = archive_task.toppath
diff --git a/test/test_importer.py b/test/test_importer.py
index d6b211c2d..ca77ac8b0 100644
--- a/test/test_importer.py
+++ b/test/test_importer.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from tarfile import TarFile
 
 import _common
 from _common import unittest
-from helper import TestImportSession, TestHelper
+from helper import TestImportSession, TestHelper, has_program
 from beets import library
 from beets import importer
 from beets.mediafile import MediaFile
@@ -342,6 +342,7 @@ class ImportTarTest(ImportZipTest):
         return path
 
 
+@unittest.skipIf(not has_program('unrar'), 'unrar program not found')
 class ImportRarTest(ImportZipTest):
 
     def create_archive(self):