diff --git a/.ci/scripts/check_gibberish b/.ci/scripts/check_gibberish
index 5d9783b3b..912020a5a 100755
--- a/.ci/scripts/check_gibberish
+++ b/.ci/scripts/check_gibberish
@@ -24,6 +24,18 @@ else
     fi
 fi
 
+#######################################################################
+#
+# check whether aspell spell check evailable
+
+if command -v aspell &> /dev/null; then
+    echo "Checking $TMPFILE for gibberish"
+else
+    echo "Aspell is not installed or not in PATH."
+    echo "Gibberish unchecked in $TMPFILE"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
 #######################################################################
 #
 # run spell check on the extracted sequence