diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-unit-jest/presets/typescript/jest-preset.js b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-unit-jest/presets/typescript/jest-preset.js
index 019c8d5890..eaf1bea57b 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-unit-jest/presets/typescript/jest-preset.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-unit-jest/presets/typescript/jest-preset.js
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
 const deepmerge = require('deepmerge')
 const defaultPreset = require('../default/jest-preset')
 
+let tsJest = null
+try {
+  tsJest = require.resolve('ts-jest')
+} catch (e) {
+  throw new Error('Cannot resolve "ts-jest" module. Typescript preset requires "ts-jest" to be installed.')
+}
+
 module.exports = deepmerge(
   defaultPreset,
   {
     moduleFileExtensions: ['ts', 'tsx'],
     transform: {
-      '^.+\\.tsx?$': require.resolve('ts-jest')
+      '^.+\\.tsx?$': tsJest
     }
   }
 )