diff --git a/timm/data/dataset_factory.py b/timm/data/dataset_factory.py
index 03b03cf5..e86bcc29 100644
--- a/timm/data/dataset_factory.py
+++ b/timm/data/dataset_factory.py
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 import os
 
-from torchvision.datasets import CIFAR100, CIFAR10, MNIST, QMNIST, KMNIST, FashionMNIST,\
-    Places365, ImageNet, ImageFolder
+from torchvision.datasets import CIFAR100, CIFAR10, MNIST, QMNIST, KMNIST, FashionMNIST, ImageNet, ImageFolder
+try:
+    from torchvision.datasets import Places365
+    has_places365 = True
+except ImportError:
+    has_places365 = False
 try:
     from torchvision.datasets import INaturalist
     has_inaturalist = True
@@ -104,6 +108,7 @@ def create_dataset(
                 split = '2021_valid'
             ds = INaturalist(version=split, target_type=target_type, **torch_kwargs)
         elif name == 'places365':
+            assert has_places365, 'Please update to a newer PyTorch and torchvision for Places365 dataset.'
             if split in _TRAIN_SYNONYM:
                 split = 'train-standard'
             elif split in _EVAL_SYNONYM: