diff --git a/reframe/frontend/loader.py b/reframe/frontend/loader.py
index c072330efb..5e48310a7f 100644
--- a/reframe/frontend/loader.py
+++ b/reframe/frontend/loader.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def __init__(self):
 
     @property
     def valid(self):
-        return self._has_import and self._has_regression_test
+        return self._has_import
 
     def visit_Import(self, node):
         for m in node.names:
@@ -29,21 +29,9 @@ def visit_Import(self, node):
                 self._has_import = True
 
     def visit_ImportFrom(self, node):
-        if node.module.startswith('reframe'):
+        if node.module is not None and node.module.startswith('reframe'):
             self._has_import = True
 
-    def visit_ClassDef(self, node):
-        for b in node.bases:
-            try:
-                # Unqualified name as in `class C(RegressionTest)`
-                cls_name = b.id
-            except AttributeError:
-                # Qualified name as in `class C(rfm.RegressionTest)`
-                cls_name = b.attr
-
-            if 'RegressionTest' in cls_name:
-                self._has_regression_test = True
-
 
 class RegressionCheckLoader:
     def __init__(self, load_path, prefix='',
diff --git a/unittests/resources/checks/bad/relative_imports.py b/unittests/resources/checks/bad/relative_imports.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..deba89b30b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittests/resources/checks/bad/relative_imports.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#
+# module to test reframe's loader with relative imports
+#
+from . import invalid_iterable
+from .. import hellocheck 
+from .invalid_iterable import _get_checks
+from ..hellocheck import HelloTest