diff --git a/qiskit/ignis/verification/tomography/fitters/process_fitter.py b/qiskit/ignis/verification/tomography/fitters/process_fitter.py
index 38f944948..13ecfb0e8 100644
--- a/qiskit/ignis/verification/tomography/fitters/process_fitter.py
+++ b/qiskit/ignis/verification/tomography/fitters/process_fitter.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 from qiskit import QiskitError
 from qiskit.quantum_info.operators import Choi
 from .base_fitter import TomographyFitter
-from .cvx_fit import cvxpy, cvx_fit
+from .cvx_fit import cvx_fit
 from .lstsq_fit import lstsq_fit
 
 
@@ -137,10 +137,11 @@ def fit(self,  # pylint: disable=arguments-differ
                              "to a process matrix.")
         # Choose automatic method
         if method == 'auto':
-            if cvxpy is None:
-                method = 'lstsq'
-            else:
+            self._check_for_sdp_solver()
+            if self._HAS_SDP_SOLVER:
                 method = 'cvx'
+            else:
+                method = 'lstsq'
         if method == 'lstsq':
             return Choi(lstsq_fit(data, basis_matrix, weights=weights,
                                   trace=dim, **kwargs))
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 03c4550ee..18fbbe5c9 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-cvxpy>=1.0.15
 pylint==2.4.4
 pycodestyle
 qiskit-aer>=0.3.0
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index d4328aa45..95c9fd2bc 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ setenv =
 deps = numpy>=1.13
        Cython>=0.27.1
        setuptools>=40.1.0
+       cvxpy>=1.0.15
 commands =
     pip install -U -c constraints.txt git+https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-terra.git
     pip install -U -c constraints.txt -r{toxinidir}/requirements-dev.txt