diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 540e662f0c..34750ee04c 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ documentation updates.
 * `annotate()` now warns about `stat` or `position` arguments (@teunbrand, #5151)
 * `guide_coloursteps(even.steps = FALSE)` now works with discrete data that has 
   been formatted by `cut()` (@teunbrand, #3877).
+* `ggsave()` now offers to install svglite if needed (@eliocamp, #6166).
 
 # ggplot2 3.5.0
 
diff --git a/R/save.R b/R/save.R
index ffe6945410..b06c567b2e 100644
--- a/R/save.R
+++ b/R/save.R
@@ -277,7 +277,10 @@ plot_dev <- function(device, filename = NULL, dpi = 300, call = caller_env()) {
     ps =   eps,
     tex =  function(filename, ...) grDevices::pictex(file = filename, ...),
     pdf =  function(filename, ..., version = "1.4") grDevices::pdf(file = filename, ..., version = version),
-    svg =  function(filename, ...) svglite::svglite(file = filename, ...),
+    svg =  function(filename, ...) {
+      check_installed("svglite", reason = "to save as SVG.")
+      svglite::svglite(file = filename, ...)
+    },
     # win.metafile() doesn't have `bg` arg so we need to absorb it before passing `...`
     emf =  function(..., bg = NULL) grDevices::win.metafile(...),
     wmf =  function(..., bg = NULL) grDevices::win.metafile(...),