diff --git a/monai/data/image_reader.py b/monai/data/image_reader.py
index cd1486d6d3..be583fc375 100644
--- a/monai/data/image_reader.py
+++ b/monai/data/image_reader.py
@@ -673,8 +673,10 @@ def __init__(self, reader_lib: str = "OpenSlide"):
             if has_osl:
                 self.wsi_reader = openslide.OpenSlide
         elif self.reader_lib == "cucim":
-            if has_cim:
+            if has_cim and hasattr(cucim, "CuImage"):
                 self.wsi_reader = cucim.CuImage
+            else:
+                raise ImportError("Please check the cuCIM installation.")
         else:
             raise ValueError('`reader_lib` should be either "cuCIM" or "OpenSlide"')
 
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index ed8739ded8..1b9ae52ae1 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Sphinx==3.5.3
 recommonmark==0.6.0
 sphinx-autodoc-typehints==1.11.1
 sphinx-rtd-theme==0.5.2
-cucim~=0.19.0; platform_system == "Linux"
+cucim>=21.8.2; platform_system == "Linux"
 openslide-python==1.1.2
 pandas
 requests
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index f7ed90a14a..eddb898b0d 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ all =
     tqdm>=4.47.0
     lmdb
     psutil
-    cucim~=0.19.0
+    cucim>=21.8.2
     openslide-python==1.1.2
     pandas
     einops
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ lmdb =
 psutil =
     psutil
 cucim =
-    cucim~=0.19.0
+    cucim>=21.8.2
 openslide =
     openslide-python==1.1.2
 pandas =
diff --git a/tests/test_cuimage_reader.py b/tests/test_cuimage_reader.py
index 2cbfaec113..934afe4771 100644
--- a/tests/test_cuimage_reader.py
+++ b/tests/test_cuimage_reader.py
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
 from monai.data.image_reader import WSIReader
 from monai.utils import optional_import
 
-_, has_cim = optional_import("cucim")
+cucim, has_cucim = optional_import("cucim")
+has_cucim = has_cucim and hasattr(cucim, "CuImage")
 PILImage, has_pil = optional_import("PIL.Image")
 
 FILE_URL = "http://openslide.cs.cmu.edu/download/openslide-testdata/Generic-TIFF/CMU-1.tiff"
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@
 
 
 class TestCuCIMReader(unittest.TestCase):
-    @skipUnless(has_cim, "Requires CuCIM")
+    @skipUnless(has_cucim, "Requires CuCIM")
     def setUp(self):
         download_url(FILE_URL, FILE_PATH, "5a3cfd4fd725c50578ddb80b517b759f")
 
@@ -112,6 +113,7 @@ def test_read_patches(self, file_path, patch_info, expected_img):
 
     @parameterized.expand([TEST_CASE_RGB_0, TEST_CASE_RGB_1])
     @skipUnless(has_pil, "Requires PIL")
+    @skipUnless(has_cucim and cucim.__version__ == "0.19.0", "Skipped for cicum>0.19.0")
     def test_read_rgba(self, img_expected):
         image = {}
         reader = WSIReader("cuCIM")
diff --git a/tests/test_lesion_froc.py b/tests/test_lesion_froc.py
index 2454de88fa..04b4cb1355 100644
--- a/tests/test_lesion_froc.py
+++ b/tests/test_lesion_froc.py
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@
 from monai.apps.pathology.metrics import LesionFROC
 from monai.utils import optional_import
 
-_, has_cucim = optional_import("cucim")
+_cucim, has_cucim = optional_import("cucim")
+has_cucim = has_cucim and hasattr(_cucim, "CuImage")
 _, has_skimage = optional_import("skimage.measure")
 _, has_sp = optional_import("scipy.ndimage")
 PILImage, has_pil = optional_import("PIL.Image")
diff --git a/tests/test_patch_wsi_dataset.py b/tests/test_patch_wsi_dataset.py
index f775f28376..0d08d6b946 100644
--- a/tests/test_patch_wsi_dataset.py
+++ b/tests/test_patch_wsi_dataset.py
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
 from monai.apps.utils import download_url
 from monai.utils import optional_import
 
-_, has_cim = optional_import("cucim")
+_cucim, has_cim = optional_import("cucim")
+has_cim = has_cim and hasattr(_cucim, "CuImage")
 _, has_osl = optional_import("openslide")
 
 FILE_URL = "http://openslide.cs.cmu.edu/download/openslide-testdata/Generic-TIFF/CMU-1.tiff"
diff --git a/tests/test_smartcache_patch_wsi_dataset.py b/tests/test_smartcache_patch_wsi_dataset.py
index c484e5fc69..af60d23cfc 100644
--- a/tests/test_smartcache_patch_wsi_dataset.py
+++ b/tests/test_smartcache_patch_wsi_dataset.py
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
 from monai.apps.utils import download_url
 from monai.utils import optional_import
 
-_, has_cim = optional_import("cucim")
+_cucim, has_cim = optional_import("cucim")
+has_cim = has_cim and hasattr(_cucim, "CuImage")
 
 FILE_URL = "http://openslide.cs.cmu.edu/download/openslide-testdata/Generic-TIFF/CMU-1.tiff"
 FILE_PATH = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "testing_data", "temp_" + os.path.basename(FILE_URL))