From 8206105601c2afdd59180e16d31513e3d50258fa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Baris Talar <250097450+baris-talar@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:08:09 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/6] FIX: handle missing __version__ in check_version for soft
 imports

---
 doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst |  4 ++++
 doc/changes/names.inc            |  1 +
 mne/utils/check.py               | 13 +++++++++----
 mne/utils/tests/test_check.py    | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst

diff --git a/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst b/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..00f99df23ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+:func:`mne.utils.check_version` now gracefully handles packages that do not
+expose ``__version__`` at the top level when no minimum version is required.
+This improves handling of optional dependencies in ``_soft_import``, by
+:newcontrib:`Baris Talar`.
diff --git a/doc/changes/names.inc b/doc/changes/names.inc
index b87dbbfb04c..6a9f674b229 100644
--- a/doc/changes/names.inc
+++ b/doc/changes/names.inc
@@ -371,4 +371,5 @@
 .. _Yu-Han Luo: https://github.com/yh-luo
 .. _Zhi Zhang: https://github.com/tczhangzhi/
 .. _Ziyi ZENG: https://github.com/ZiyiTsang
+.. _Baris Talar: https://github.com/baris-talar
 .. _Zvi Baratz: https://github.com/ZviBaratz
diff --git a/mne/utils/check.py b/mne/utils/check.py
index 85c5c62bdf7..fe2d82eeb86 100644
--- a/mne/utils/check.py
+++ b/mne/utils/check.py
@@ -83,7 +83,9 @@ def check_version(library, min_version="0.0", *, strip=True, return_version=Fals
     Parameters
     ----------
     library : str
-        The library name to import. Must have a ``__version__`` property.
+        The library name to import. Should have a ``__version__`` property;
+        if absent and ``min_version`` is specified, the version check will
+        fail.
     min_version : str
         The minimum version string. Anything that matches
         ``'(\d+ | [a-z]+ | \.)'``. Can also be empty to skip version
@@ -120,11 +122,14 @@ def check_version(library, min_version="0.0", *, strip=True, return_version=Fals
         check_version = min_version and min_version != "0.0"
         get_version = check_version or return_version
         if get_version:
-            version = library.__version__
-            if strip:
+            try:
+                version = library.__version__
+            except AttributeError:
+                version = None
+            if version is not None and strip:
                 version = _strip_dev(version)
         if check_version:
-            if _compare_version(version, "<", min_version):
+            if version is None or _compare_version(version, "<", min_version):
                 ok = False
     out = (ok, version) if return_version else ok
     return out
diff --git a/mne/utils/tests/test_check.py b/mne/utils/tests/test_check.py
index af59ddf4e12..e8d1aa3ba10 100644
--- a/mne/utils/tests/test_check.py
+++ b/mne/utils/tests/test_check.py
@@ -415,3 +415,19 @@ def test_soft_import():
     """Test _soft_import."""
     with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match=r".* the module mne>=999 \(found version.*"):
         _soft_import("mne", "testing", min_version="999")
+
+
+def test_soft_import_missing_version(monkeypatch):
+    """Test _soft_import handles packages without __version__."""
+    import types
+
+    fake_mod = types.ModuleType("fake_no_version")
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "fake_no_version", fake_mod)
+
+    # No min_version: should succeed even without __version__
+    mod = _soft_import("fake_no_version", "testing", strict=True)
+    assert mod is fake_mod
+
+    # With min_version: should fail because __version__ is absent
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="module fake_no_version"):
+        _soft_import("fake_no_version", "testing", strict=True, min_version="1.0")

From 92b08c04b69b558a9e2607e2a4f28c6d45c21d18 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "pre-commit-ci[bot]"
 <66853113+pre-commit-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:11:54 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 2/6] [pre-commit.ci] auto fixes from pre-commit.com hooks

for more information, see https://pre-commit.ci
---
 doc/changes/names.inc | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/doc/changes/names.inc b/doc/changes/names.inc
index 6a9f674b229..c8a9c5127ed 100644
--- a/doc/changes/names.inc
+++ b/doc/changes/names.inc
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 .. _Ashley Drew: https://github.com/ashdrew
 .. _Asish Panda: https://github.com/kaichogami
 .. _Austin Hurst: https://github.com/a-hurst
+.. _Baris Talar: https://github.com/baris-talar
 .. _Beige Jin: https://github.com/BeiGeJin
 .. _Ben Beasley: https://github.com/musicinmybrain
 .. _Benedikt Ehinger: https://www.benediktehinger.de
@@ -371,5 +372,4 @@
 .. _Yu-Han Luo: https://github.com/yh-luo
 .. _Zhi Zhang: https://github.com/tczhangzhi/
 .. _Ziyi ZENG: https://github.com/ZiyiTsang
-.. _Baris Talar: https://github.com/baris-talar
 .. _Zvi Baratz: https://github.com/ZviBaratz

From ff8b85a1f1875828bb875e07aa9b5c5693f7910e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Baris Talar <250097450+baris-talar@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:43:52 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 3/6] =?UTF-8?q?DOC:=20fix=20changelog=20cross-reference=20?=
 =?UTF-8?q?=E2=80=94=20use=20plain=20code=20instead=20of=20broken=20:func:?=
 =?UTF-8?q?=20role?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

check_version is not listed in doc/api/ so :func:`mne.utils.check_version`
fails the Sphinx docs build. Replace with plain inline ``check_version``.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst | 6 +++---
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst b/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst
index 00f99df23ea..d5d298ccf82 100644
--- a/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst
+++ b/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-:func:`mne.utils.check_version` now gracefully handles packages that do not
-expose ``__version__`` at the top level when no minimum version is required.
-This improves handling of optional dependencies in ``_soft_import``, by
+``check_version`` now gracefully handles packages that do not expose
+``__version__`` at the top level when no minimum version is required,
+improving handling of optional dependencies in ``_soft_import``, by
 :newcontrib:`Baris Talar`.

From 42e65aa67d9296e914dc5360fa3cf46ef4acb278 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Baris Talar <250097450+baris-talar@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:57:51 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 4/6] DOC: rename changelog entry to match PR number #13870

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 doc/changes/dev/{13863.bugfix.rst => 13870.bugfix.rst} | 0
 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
 rename doc/changes/dev/{13863.bugfix.rst => 13870.bugfix.rst} (100%)

diff --git a/doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst b/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from doc/changes/dev/13863.bugfix.rst
rename to doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst

From 1845249ac8249c9c186a2b483c76dfe9853324b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Daniel McCloy <dan@mccloy.info>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2026 10:00:55 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 5/6] Update doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst

---
 doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst | 4 +---
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst b/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst
index d5d298ccf82..6c6b3e4d313 100644
--- a/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst
+++ b/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst
@@ -1,4 +1,2 @@
-``check_version`` now gracefully handles packages that do not expose
-``__version__`` at the top level when no minimum version is required,
-improving handling of optional dependencies in ``_soft_import``, by
+Fix handling of optional dependencies that don't specify a version attribute, by
 :newcontrib:`Baris Talar`.

From bdb0b1d8b422183375626805b8e9618e20c95b35 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Eric Larson <larson.eric.d@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2026 11:54:23 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 6/6] Fix formatting in bugfix documentation

---
 doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst | 3 +--
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst b/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst
index 6c6b3e4d313..76b8d4debea 100644
--- a/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst
+++ b/doc/changes/dev/13870.bugfix.rst
@@ -1,2 +1 @@
-Fix handling of optional dependencies that don't specify a version attribute, by
-:newcontrib:`Baris Talar`.
+Fix handling of optional dependencies that don't specify a version attribute, by :newcontrib:`Baris Talar`.