diff --git a/test/mesh/runtests.jl b/test/mesh/runtests.jl
index 4b13bbb..51ef5cd 100644
--- a/test/mesh/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/mesh/runtests.jl
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ using Tensors
 
 include("test_refine.jl")
 include("test_mesh_api.jl")
+include("test_gmsh_stub.jl")
diff --git a/test/mesh/test_gmsh_stub.jl b/test/mesh/test_gmsh_stub.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62a6dde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/mesh/test_gmsh_stub.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2015-2026 Jukka Aho
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+using Test
+using JuliaFEM
+
+@testset "Gmsh bridge stubs (extension not loaded)" begin
+    @test_throws ErrorException JuliaFEM.read_gmsh_msh("nonexistent.msh")
+    @test_throws MethodError JuliaFEM.mesh_from_current_gmsh_model()
+end