diff --git a/mers_lib/Cargo.toml b/mers_lib/Cargo.toml
index e0c710f..4684f76 100755
--- a/mers_lib/Cargo.toml
+++ b/mers_lib/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "mers_lib"
-version = "0.8.16"
+version = "0.8.17"
 edition = "2021"
 license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
 description = "library to use the mers language in other projects"
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ run = []
 ecolor-term = ["dep:colored"]
 ecolor-html = ["dep:html-escape"]
 
-# pretty-print requires ecolor-term, but this is not listed here because I want people to explicitly opt-in to the extra `colored` dependency via the ecolor-term feature.
 pretty-print = []
 
 [dependencies]
diff --git a/mers_lib/src/pretty_print.rs b/mers_lib/src/pretty_print.rs
index 1f678f8..8fc13d0 100644
--- a/mers_lib/src/pretty_print.rs
+++ b/mers_lib/src/pretty_print.rs
@@ -5,13 +5,12 @@ use crate::{
     theme::ThemeGen,
 };
 
-#[cfg(not(feature = "ecolor-term"))]
-compile_error!("feature ecolor-term is required if pretty-print feature is enabled");
-
+#[cfg(feature = "ecolor-term")]
 pub fn pretty_print(src: Source) {
     pretty_print_to(src, &mut std::io::stdout(), DefaultTheme)
 }
 
+/// to print to stdout, use `pretty_print` (available only with the `ecolor-term` feature)
 pub fn pretty_print_to<O: Write>(mut src: Source, out: &mut O, theme: impl FTheme<O>) {
     let srca = Arc::new(src.clone());
     match parse(&mut src, &srca) {
@@ -65,7 +64,9 @@ pub enum FColor {
     Unknown,
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "ecolor-term")]
 pub struct DefaultTheme;
+#[cfg(feature = "ecolor-term")]
 impl ThemeGen for DefaultTheme {
     type C = FColor;
     type T = std::io::Stdout;