diff --git a/src/test/raii_event_tests.cpp b/src/test/raii_event_tests.cpp
--- a/src/test/raii_event_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/test/raii_event_tests.cpp
@@ -4,11 +4,6 @@
 
 #include <event2/event.h>
 
-#ifdef EVENT_SET_MEM_FUNCTIONS_IMPLEMENTED
-// It would probably be ideal to define dummy test(s) that report skipped, but
-// boost::test doesn't seem to make that practical (at least not in versions
-// available with common distros)
-
 #include <support/events.h>
 
 #include <test/util/setup_common.h>
@@ -18,6 +13,10 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <map>
 
+BOOST_FIXTURE_TEST_SUITE(raii_event_tests, BasicTestingSetup)
+
+#ifdef EVENT_SET_MEM_FUNCTIONS_IMPLEMENTED
+
 static std::map<void *, short> tags;
 static std::map<void *, uint16_t> orders;
 static uint16_t tagSequence = 0;
@@ -38,8 +37,6 @@
     free(mem);
 }
 
-BOOST_FIXTURE_TEST_SUITE(raii_event_tests, BasicTestingSetup)
-
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(raii_event_creation) {
     event_set_mem_functions(tag_malloc, realloc, tag_free);
 
@@ -89,6 +86,16 @@
     event_set_mem_functions(malloc, realloc, free);
 }
 
-BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()
+#else
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(raii_event_tests_SKIPPED) {
+    // It would probably be ideal to report skipped, but boost::test doesn't
+    // seem to make that practical (at least not in versions available with
+    // common distros)
+    BOOST_TEST_MESSAGE("Skipping raii_event_tess: libevent doesn't support "
+                       "event_set_mem_functions");
+}
 
 #endif // EVENT_SET_MEM_FUNCTIONS_IMPLEMENTED
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()