diff --git a/semantica/parse/pptx_parser.py b/semantica/parse/pptx_parser.py
index cd30114c..f88037de 100644
--- a/semantica/parse/pptx_parser.py
+++ b/semantica/parse/pptx_parser.py
@@ -32,8 +32,6 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Union
 
-from pptx import Presentation
-
 from ..utils.exceptions import ProcessingError, ValidationError
 from ..utils.logging import get_logger
 from ..utils.progress_tracker import get_progress_tracker
@@ -97,6 +95,13 @@ class PPTXParser:
             raise ValidationError(f"File is not a PPTX: {file_path}")
 
         try:
+            try:
+                from pptx import Presentation
+            except ImportError:
+                raise ProcessingError(
+                    "python-pptx is required for PPTX parsing. "
+                    "Install with: pip install python-pptx"
+                )
             prs = Presentation(str(file_path))
 
             # Extract metadata