diff --git a/quinn/dataframe_helpers.py b/quinn/dataframe_helpers.py
index d4cc9ad8..687457ff 100644
--- a/quinn/dataframe_helpers.py
+++ b/quinn/dataframe_helpers.py
@@ -21,7 +21,16 @@ def column_to_list(df: DataFrame, col_name: str) -> list[Any]:
     :rtype: List[Any]
     """
     pyarrow_kv = ("spark.sql.execution.arrow.pyspark.enabled", "true")
+
+    if "pyspark" not in sys.modules:
+        raise ImportError
+
+    # sparksession from df is not available in older versions of pyspark
+    if sys.modules["pyspark"].__version__ < "3.3.0":
+        return df.select(col_name).rdd.flatMap(lambda x: x).collect()
+
     spark_config = df.sparkSession.sparkContext.getConf().getAll()
+
     pyarrow_enabled: bool = pyarrow_kv in spark_config
     pyarrow_valid = pyarrow_enabled and sys.modules["pyarrow"] >= "0.17.0"