diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3e1bed380..bafcb748f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@
     "moment-timezone": "0.5.4",
     "mousetrap": "^1.5.3",
     "nock": "^2",
-    "node-mac-notifier": "0.0.13",
     "node-uuid": "^1.4",
     "nslog": "^3",
     "optimist": "0.4.0",
@@ -83,6 +82,9 @@
     "underscore.string": "^3.0",
     "windows-shortcuts": "emorikawa/windows-shortcuts#b0a0fc7"
   },
+  "optionalDependencies": {
+    "node-mac-notifier": "0.0.13"
+  },
   "packageDependencies": {},
   "scripts": {
     "flow": "flow; test $? -eq 0 -o $? -eq 2",
diff --git a/src/native-notifications.es6 b/src/native-notifications.es6
index 2cfd56558..b0c2b5e99 100644
--- a/src/native-notifications.es6
+++ b/src/native-notifications.es6
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
 /* eslint global-require: 0 */
 let MacNotifierNotification = null;
+if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
+  try {
+    MacNotifierNotification = require('node-mac-notifier');
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error("node-mac-notifier (a platform-specific optionalDependency) was not installed correctly! Check the Travis build log for errors.")
+  }
+}
 
 class NativeNotifications {
   displayNotification({title, subtitle, body, tag, canReply, onActivate} = {}) {
     let notif = null;
 
-    if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
-      MacNotifierNotification = MacNotifierNotification || require('node-mac-notifier');
+    if (MacNotifierNotification) {
       notif = new MacNotifierNotification(title, {
         bundleId: 'com.nylas.nylas-mail',
         canReply: canReply,