diff --git a/unittests/table_json_conversion/test_table_template_generator.py b/unittests/table_json_conversion/test_table_template_generator.py
index 47fb5d21f68f9e99ba5d6bdd3e2bbf10406f1fc2..21a9ce17f857687df3af90c1be0dd0b9c147799b 100644
--- a/unittests/table_json_conversion/test_table_template_generator.py
+++ b/unittests/table_json_conversion/test_table_template_generator.py
@@ -187,7 +187,10 @@ def test_template_generator():
     assert ws.row_dimensions[1].hidden is True
     assert ws.column_dimensions['A'].hidden is True
 
+    # TODO: remove the following after manual testing
     di = '/home/professional/CaosDB/management/external/dimr/eingabemaske/crawler/schemas'
+    if not os.path.exists(di):
+        return
     for fi in os.listdir(di):
         rp = os.path.join(di, fi)
         with open(rp) as sfi: