diff --git a/taxcalc/policy.py b/taxcalc/policy.py
index fbee0bfe9..67b32ec9f 100644
--- a/taxcalc/policy.py
+++ b/taxcalc/policy.py
@@ -204,20 +204,20 @@ def read_json_reform_text(text_string):
            implement_reform(reform_dict) method (see below).
         """
         # strip out //-comments without changing line numbers
-        json_without_comments = re.sub('//.*', '', text_string)
+        json_without_comments = re.sub('//.*', ' ', text_string)
         # convert JSON text into a dictionary with year skeys as strings
         try:
             reform_dict_raw = json.loads(json_without_comments)
-        except ValueError:
-            msg = 'Policy reform text contains invalid JSON'
-            txt = ('\nTO FIND FIRST JSON SYNTAX ERROR,\n'
-                   'COPY TEXT BETWEEN LINES AND '
-                   'PASTE INTO BOX AT jsonlint.com\n')
-            line = '----------------------------------------------------------'
-            txt += line + '\n'
-            txt += json_without_comments.strip() + '\n'
-            txt += line + '\n'
-            raise ValueError(msg + txt)
+        except ValueError as valerr:
+            msg = 'Policy reform text below contains invalid JSON:\n'
+            msg += str(valerr) + '\n'
+            msg += 'The invalid JSON reform text is between the lines:\n'
+            line = '---------|---------|---------|'
+            line += '---------|---------|---------|'
+            msg += line + '\n'
+            msg += json_without_comments + '\n'
+            msg += line + '\n'
+            raise ValueError(msg)
         return Policy.convert_reform_dictionary(reform_dict_raw)
 
     def implement_reform(self, reform):
diff --git a/taxcalc/tests/test_utils.py b/taxcalc/tests/test_utils.py
index 33d1958a8..99b0e2a8b 100644
--- a/taxcalc/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/taxcalc/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -536,6 +536,20 @@ def test_mtr_plot(records_2009):
     plot = mtr_plot(source)
 
 
+def test_mtr_plot_force_no_bokeh(records_2009):
+    import taxcalc
+    taxcalc.utils.BOKEH_AVAILABLE = False
+    pol = Policy()
+    behv = Behavior()
+    calc = Calculator(policy=pol, records=records_2009, behavior=behv)
+    calc.calc_all()
+    source = get_mtr_data(calc, calc, weights=wage_weighted,
+                          complex_weight=True)
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):
+        plot = mtr_plot(source)
+    taxcalc.utils.BOKEH_AVAILABLE = True
+
+
 def test_multiyear_diagnostic_table(records_2009):
     pol = Policy()
     behv = Behavior()
diff --git a/taxcalc/utils.py b/taxcalc/utils.py
index 9b62ee716..749911165 100644
--- a/taxcalc/utils.py
+++ b/taxcalc/utils.py
@@ -3,14 +3,16 @@
 import pandas as pd
 from pandas import DataFrame
 from collections import defaultdict, OrderedDict
-from bokeh.models import Plot, Range1d, ImageURL, DataRange1d
-from bokeh.embed import components
-from bokeh.layouts import layout
-from bokeh.palettes import Blues4, Reds4
-from bokeh.plotting import figure, hplot, vplot, output_file, show
-from bokeh.models import (ColumnDataSource, LogAxis, LinearAxis, Rect,
-                          FactorRange, CategoricalAxis, Line, Text, Square,
-                          HoverTool)
+
+try:
+    import bokeh
+    BOKEH_AVAILABLE = True
+    from bokeh.palettes import Blues4, Reds4
+    from bokeh.plotting import figure
+
+except ImportError:
+    BOKEH_AVAILABLE = False
+#
 
 STATS_COLUMNS = ['_expanded_income', 'c00100', '_standard',
                  'c04470', 'c04600', 'c04800', 'c05200', 'c62100', 'c09600',
@@ -733,6 +735,26 @@ def get_mtr_data(calcX, calcY, weights, MARS='ALL',
     return merged
 
 
+def requires_bokeh(fn):
+    """
+    Decorator for functions that require bokeh.
+    If BOKEH_AVAILABLE=True, this does nothing.
+    IF BOKEH_AVAILABEL=False, we raise an exception and tell the caller
+    that they must install bokeh in order to use the function.
+    """
+    def wrapped_f(*args, **kwargs):
+        if BOKEH_AVAILABLE:
+            return fn(*args, **kwargs)
+        else:
+            msg = ("`bokeh` is not installed. Please install "
+                   "`bokeh` to use this package (`conda install "
+                   "bokeh`)")
+            raise RuntimeError(msg)
+
+    return wrapped_f
+
+
+@requires_bokeh
 def mtr_plot(source, xlab='Percentile', ylab='Avg. MTR', title='MTR plot',
              plot_width=425, plot_height=250, loc='top_left'):
     """