diff --git a/hy/importer.py b/hy/importer.py
index cea5b46..4a6033d 100644
--- a/hy/importer.py
+++ b/hy/importer.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import marshal
 import struct
 import imp
 import sys
+import platform
 import ast
 import os
 import __future__
@@ -111,13 +112,17 @@ def import_file_to_module(module_name, fpath, loader=None):
             module = imp.new_module(module_name)
             module.__file__ = fpath
             code = ast_compile(_ast, fpath, "exec")
-            try:
-                write_code_as_pyc(fpath, code)
-            except (IOError, OSError):
-                # We failed to save the bytecode, probably because of a
-                # permissions issue. The user only asked to import the file, so
-                # don't bug them about it.
-                pass
+            if not (platform.python_implementation() == 'PyPy' and
+                    'nosetests' in sys.argv[0] and
+                    is_package(module_name)):
+                # Nose can generate spurious errors in this specific situation.
+                try:
+                    write_code_as_pyc(fpath, code)
+                except (IOError, OSError):
+                    # We failed to save the bytecode, probably because of a
+                    # permissions issue. The user only asked to import the
+                    # file, so don't bug them about it.
+                    pass
             eval(code, module.__dict__)
         except (HyTypeError, LexException) as e:
             if e.source is None: