diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py
index 1fb75f2c537265..9a24e4ae2dad00 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py
@@ -19,11 +19,12 @@
 import pandas.plotting as plotting
 from pandas.plotting._tools import _flatten
 
-
 """
 This is a common base class used for various plotting tests
 """
 
+tm._skip_module_if_no_mpl()
+
 
 def _skip_if_no_scipy_gaussian_kde():
     try:
@@ -41,7 +42,6 @@ def _ok_for_gaussian_kde(kind):
     return True
 
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestPlotBase(tm.TestCase):
 
     def setup_method(self, method):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py
index 1f70d408767f37..1e06c139806576 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 
 """ Test cases for .boxplot method """
 
+tm._skip_module_if_no_mpl()
+
 
 def _skip_if_mpl_14_or_dev_boxplot():
     # GH 8382
@@ -31,7 +33,6 @@ def _skip_if_mpl_14_or_dev_boxplot():
         pytest.skip("Matplotlib Regression in 1.4 and current dev.")
 
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestDataFramePlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     @slow
@@ -165,7 +166,6 @@ def test_fontsize(self):
                                 xlabelsize=16, ylabelsize=16)
 
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestDataFrameGroupByPlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     @slow
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py
index 7908c7e9b5c72f..ed198de11bac11 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@
 from pandas.tests.plotting.common import (TestPlotBase,
                                           _skip_if_no_scipy_gaussian_kde)
 
+tm._skip_module_if_no_mpl()
+
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestTSPlot(TestPlotBase):
 
     def setup_method(self, method):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_hist_method.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_hist_method.py
index 4792f51332571e..c3e32f52e0474e 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_hist_method.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_hist_method.py
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 from pandas.tests.plotting.common import (TestPlotBase, _check_plot_works)
 
 
-@tm.mplskip
+tm._skip_module_if_no_mpl()
+
+
 class TestSeriesPlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     def setup_method(self, method):
@@ -140,7 +142,6 @@ def test_plot_fails_when_ax_differs_from_figure(self):
             self.ts.hist(ax=ax1, figure=fig2)
 
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestDataFramePlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     @slow
@@ -251,7 +252,6 @@ def test_tight_layout(self):
             tm.close()
 
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestDataFrameGroupByPlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     @slow
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py
index 69bf3bf6558c91..9eace32aa19a33 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py
@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@
 from pandas.tests.plotting.common import (TestPlotBase, _check_plot_works,
                                           _ok_for_gaussian_kde)
 
+tm._skip_module_if_no_mpl()
+
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestSeriesPlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     def setup_method(self, method):
@@ -50,7 +51,6 @@ def test_bootstrap_plot(self):
         _check_plot_works(bootstrap_plot, series=self.ts, size=10)
 
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestDataFramePlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     @slow
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py
index ff27ff709f5168..448661c7af0e94 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@
                                           _skip_if_no_scipy_gaussian_kde,
                                           _ok_for_gaussian_kde)
 
+tm._skip_module_if_no_mpl()
+
 
-@tm.mplskip
 class TestSeriesPlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     def setup_method(self, method):
diff --git a/pandas/util/testing.py b/pandas/util/testing.py
index c7d8a715d7f8b7..48eb4d32133017 100644
--- a/pandas/util/testing.py
+++ b/pandas/util/testing.py
@@ -283,26 +283,17 @@ def close(fignum=None):
         _close(fignum)
 
 
-def _skip_if_32bit():
+def _skip_module_if_no_mpl():
     import pytest
-    if is_platform_32bit():
-        pytest.skip("skipping for 32 bit")
 
+    mpl = pytest.importorskip("matplotlib")
+    mpl.use("Agg", warn=False)
 
-def mplskip(cls):
-    """Skip a TestCase instance if matplotlib isn't installed"""
 
-    @classmethod
-    def setup_class(cls):
-        try:
-            import matplotlib as mpl
-            mpl.use("Agg", warn=False)
-        except ImportError:
-            import pytest
-            pytest.skip("matplotlib not installed")
-
-    cls.setup_class = setup_class
-    return cls
+def _skip_if_32bit():
+    import pytest
+    if is_platform_32bit():
+        pytest.skip("skipping for 32 bit")
 
 
 def _skip_if_no_mpl():