diff --git a/skbase/testing/utils/tests/__init__.py b/skbase/testing/utils/tests/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 02c57948..00000000
--- a/skbase/testing/utils/tests/__init__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-"""Testing utilities of the test framework."""
diff --git a/skbase/utils/dependencies/tests/__init__.py b/skbase/utils/dependencies/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c0280b4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skbase/utils/dependencies/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""Testing utilities for depeendency checkers."""
diff --git a/skbase/testing/utils/tests/test_check_dependencies.py b/skbase/utils/dependencies/tests/test_check_dependencies.py
similarity index 96%
rename from skbase/testing/utils/tests/test_check_dependencies.py
rename to skbase/utils/dependencies/tests/test_check_dependencies.py
index 6ffca3dc..53f1353f 100644
--- a/skbase/testing/utils/tests/test_check_dependencies.py
+++ b/skbase/utils/dependencies/tests/test_check_dependencies.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import pytest
 from packaging.requirements import InvalidRequirement
 
-from skbase.testing.utils._dependencies import _check_soft_dependencies
+from skbase.utils.dependencies._dependencies import _check_soft_dependencies
 
 
 def test_check_soft_deps():
diff --git a/skbase/testing/utils/tests/test_deep_equals.py b/skbase/utils/tests/test_deep_equals.py
similarity index 95%
rename from skbase/testing/utils/tests/test_deep_equals.py
rename to skbase/utils/tests/test_deep_equals.py
index 607e2830..e091c0dd 100644
--- a/skbase/testing/utils/tests/test_deep_equals.py
+++ b/skbase/utils/tests/test_deep_equals.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
 
-from skbase.testing.utils._dependencies import _check_soft_dependencies
+from skbase.utils.dependencies import _check_soft_dependencies
 from skbase.utils.deep_equals import deep_equals
 
 # examples used for comparison below