diff --git a/gerrychain/graph/graph.py b/gerrychain/graph/graph.py
index 3d06dda7..5bb43650 100644
--- a/gerrychain/graph/graph.py
+++ b/gerrychain/graph/graph.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 import warnings
 
 import networkx
-import retworkx
 from networkx.classes.function import frozen
 from networkx.readwrite import json_graph
 import pandas as pd
@@ -20,6 +19,13 @@ def json_serialize(input_object):
     if pd.api.types.is_integer_dtype(input_object):  # handle int64
         return int(input_object)
 
+try:
+    import rustworkx
+except ImportError:
+    _has_rustworkx = False
+else:
+    _has_rustworkx = True
+
 
 class Graph(networkx.Graph):
     """Represents a graph to be partitioned. It is based on :class:`networkx.Graph`.
@@ -366,32 +372,29 @@ class FrozenGraph:
         "rustworkx_networkx_mapping"
     ]
 
-    def __init__(
-        self,
-        graph: Graph,
-        pygraph: retworkx.PyGraph = None,
-        mappings: Tuple[dict, dict] = None
-    ):
+    def __init__(self, graph: Graph, pygraph: "rustworkx.PyGraph" = None):
         self.graph = networkx.classes.function.freeze(graph)
         self.graph.join = frozen
         self.graph.add_data = frozen
 
         self.size = len(self.graph)
 
-        if pygraph:
-            self.pygraph = pygraph
-        else:
-            self.pygraph = retworkx.networkx_converter(graph, keep_attributes=True)
+        if _has_rustworkx:
+            if pygraph is None:
+                self.pygraph = rustworkx.networkx_converter(graph, keep_attributes=True)
+            else:
+                self.pygraph = pygraph
 
-        if mappings:
-            self.retworkx_networkx_mapping, self.networkx_retworkx_mapping = mappings
-        else:
-            self.retworkx_networkx_mapping = {
+            self.rustworkx_networkx_mapping = {
                 n: self.pygraph[n]["__networkx_node__"] for n in self.pygraph.node_indexes()
             }
-            self.networkx_retworkx_mapping = {
+            self.networkx_rustworkx_mapping = {
                 self.pygraph[n]["__networkx_node__"]: n for n in self.pygraph.node_indexes()
             }
+        else:
+            self.pygraph = None
+            self.rustworkx_networkx_mapping = None
+            self.networkx_rustworkx_mapping = None
 
     def __len__(self):
         return self.size
@@ -426,15 +429,20 @@ def lookup(self, node, field):
         return self.graph.nodes[node][field]
 
     def subgraph(self, nodes):
+        if self.pygraph is None:
+            return FrozenGraph(self.graph.subgraph(nodes))
+
         return FrozenGraph(
             self.graph.subgraph(nodes),
             self.pygraph.subgraph(
-                [self.networkx_retworkx_mapping[x] for x in nodes]
+                [self.networkx_rustworkx_mapping[x] for x in nodes]
             )
         )
 
-    # @functools.cache
     def pygraph_pop_lookup(self, field: str):
+        if self.pygraph is None:
+            raise ValueError("No rustworkx graph available.")
+
         attrs = [0] * len(self.pygraph.node_indexes())
         for node in self.pygraph.node_indexes():
             attrs[node] = float(self.pygraph[node][field])