diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a38c7e7c..410939d2 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ addopts = [
     "--cov", "cruizlib",
     "--cov-report", "term-missing:skip-covered",
     "--import-mode=importlib",
+    "-x",
 ]
 pythonpath = [
     "tests",
diff --git a/src/cruizlib/multiprocessingmessagequeuetype.py b/src/cruizlib/multiprocessingmessagequeuetype.py
index 732151b8..a01d03a8 100644
--- a/src/cruizlib/multiprocessingmessagequeuetype.py
+++ b/src/cruizlib/multiprocessingmessagequeuetype.py
@@ -3,9 +3,19 @@
 """Type annotation for multiprocssing Queues on Messages."""
 
 import multiprocessing
+import multiprocessing.queues
 
 from cruizlib.interop.message import Message
 
-# pylint: disable=unsubscriptable-object
-MultiProcessingMessageQueueType = multiprocessing.Queue[Message]
-MultiProcessingStringJoinableQueueType = multiprocessing.JoinableQueue[str]
+# multiprocessing.Queue is a function rather than a class, so it does not satisfy
+# the usual static type rules
+# multiprocessing.queues is undocumented in more recent Pythons
+# see https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/99509#issuecomment-1742069772
+# unfortunately canot do this while older Pythons (at least 3.10) are being tested
+try:
+    MultiProcessingMessageQueueType = multiprocessing.queues.Queue[Message]
+    MultiProcessingStringJoinableQueueType = multiprocessing.queues.JoinableQueue[str]
+except TypeError:
+    # pylint: disable=unsubscriptable-object
+    MultiProcessingMessageQueueType = multiprocessing.Queue[Message]
+    MultiProcessingStringJoinableQueueType = multiprocessing.JoinableQueue[str]
diff --git a/tests/interop/test_imports.py b/tests/interop/test_imports.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 8727259c..00000000
--- a/tests/interop/test_imports.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-"""Tests for imports that are prohibited."""
-
-import importlib
-import sys
-
-MODULES_TO_IMPORT = (
-    "cruizlib.constants",
-    "cruizlib.globals",
-    "cruizlib.runcommands",
-    "cruizlib.interop.commandparameters",
-    "cruizlib.interop.commonparameters",
-    "cruizlib.interop.dependencygraph",
-    "cruizlib.interop.message",
-    "cruizlib.interop.packagenode",
-    "cruizlib.interop.pod",
-)
-
-
-def test_no_gui_imports() -> None:
-    """Ensure no GUI imports are in the cruizlib package."""
-    for module_path in MODULES_TO_IMPORT:
-        assert importlib.import_module(module_path)
-    modules = list(sys.modules.keys())
-    modules = [module for module in modules if module.startswith("PySide")]
-    allow_list_prefix = ("PySide6.support",)
-    modules = [module for module in modules if not module.startswith(allow_list_prefix)]
-    allow_list_exact = (
-        "PySide6",
-        "PySide6.QtCore",
-    )
-    modules = [module for module in modules if module not in allow_list_exact]
-    assert not modules
diff --git a/tests/test_imports.py b/tests/test_imports.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f3f96357
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_imports.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+"""Tests for imports that are prohibited."""
+
+import importlib
+import os
+import pathlib
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    sys.version_info < (3, 13),
+    reason="multiprocessing type annotation quirks in older Python versions",
+)
+def test_no_gui_imports() -> None:
+    """Ensure no GUI imports are in the cruizlib package."""
+    current_file_path = pathlib.Path(__file__)
+    tests_dir = current_file_path.parent
+    root_dir = tests_dir.parent
+    src_dir = root_dir / "src"
+    cruiz_lib_src = src_dir / "cruizlib"
+    for file in cruiz_lib_src.rglob("*.py"):
+        if "v1" in os.fspath(file) or "v2" in os.fspath(file):
+            # those modules that import conan cannot be tested "in process"
+            continue
+        module_path = os.fspath(file.relative_to(src_dir)).replace(os.path.sep, ".")
+        module_name = module_path.replace(".py", "")
+        assert importlib.import_module(module_name)
+    modules = list(sys.modules.keys())
+    modules = [module for module in modules if module.startswith("PySide")]
+    allow_list_prefix = ("PySide6.support",)
+    modules = [module for module in modules if not module.startswith(allow_list_prefix)]
+    allow_list_exact = (
+        "PySide6",
+        "PySide6.QtCore",
+    )
+    modules = [module for module in modules if module not in allow_list_exact]
+    assert not modules