diff --git a/beetsplug/replaygain.py b/beetsplug/replaygain.py
index db4d202a6..acf996bd2 100644
--- a/beetsplug/replaygain.py
+++ b/beetsplug/replaygain.py
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ class FatalReplayGainError(Exception):
     """
 
 
+class FatalGstreamerPluginReplayGainError(FatalReplayGainError):
+    """Raised when a fatal error occurs in the GStreamerBackend when
+    loading the required plugins."""
+
+
 def call(args):
     """Execute the command and return its output or raise a
     ReplayGainError on failure.
@@ -391,7 +396,7 @@ class GStreamerBackend(Backend):
 
         if self._src is None or self._decbin is None or self._conv is None \
            or self._res is None or self._rg is None:
-            raise FatalReplayGainError(
+            raise FatalGstreamerPluginReplayGainError(
                 "Failed to load required GStreamer plugins"
             )
 
diff --git a/test/test_replaygain.py b/test/test_replaygain.py
index edbfb96db..5b20f5f3b 100644
--- a/test/test_replaygain.py
+++ b/test/test_replaygain.py
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ from __future__ import (division, absolute_import, print_function,
 from test._common import unittest
 from test.helper import TestHelper, has_program
 
+from beets import config
 from beets.mediafile import MediaFile
+from beetsplug.replaygain import (FatalGstreamerPluginReplayGainError,
+                                  GStreamerBackend)
 
 try:
     import gi
@@ -87,6 +90,13 @@ class ReplayGainCliTestBase(TestHelper):
             self.assertIsNone(mediafile.rg_track_gain)
 
         self.run_command('replaygain')
+
+        # Skip the test if rg_track_peak and rg_track gain is None, assuming
+        # that it could only happen if the decoder plugins are missing.
+        if all(i.rg_track_peak is None and i.rg_track_gain is None
+               for i in self.lib.items()):
+            self.skipTest('decoder plugins could not be loaded.')
+
         for item in self.lib.items():
             self.assertIsNotNone(item.rg_track_peak)
             self.assertIsNotNone(item.rg_track_gain)
@@ -132,6 +142,18 @@ class ReplayGainCliTestBase(TestHelper):
 class ReplayGainGstCliTest(ReplayGainCliTestBase, unittest.TestCase):
     backend = u'gstreamer'
 
+    def setUp(self):
+        try:
+            # Check if required plugins can be loaded by instantiating a
+            # GStreamerBackend (via its .__init__).
+            config['replaygain']['targetlevel'] = 89
+            GStreamerBackend(config['replaygain'], None)
+        except FatalGstreamerPluginReplayGainError as e:
+            # Skip the test if plugins could not be loaded.
+            self.skipTest(str(e))
+
+        super(ReplayGainGstCliTest, self).setUp()
+
 
 @unittest.skipIf(not GAIN_PROG_AVAILABLE, 'no *gain command found')
 class ReplayGainCmdCliTest(ReplayGainCliTestBase, unittest.TestCase):