diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 296749be5..dc4ab4592 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@
     "react-native-webview": "*"
   },
   "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+    "@react-navigation/native": {
+      "optional": true
+    },
     "expo": {
       "optional": true
     }
diff --git a/src/core/hooks/index.ts b/src/core/hooks/index.ts
index 35d77007a..5256bbbfc 100644
--- a/src/core/hooks/index.ts
+++ b/src/core/hooks/index.ts
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 export * from './useAppStateListener';
 export * from './useDeviceOrientation';
+export * from './useIsFocused';
diff --git a/src/core/hooks/useIsFocused.ts b/src/core/hooks/useIsFocused.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..28faf9ab2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/hooks/useIsFocused.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/**
+ * A wrapper around `useIsFocused` from `@react-navigation/native` that
+ * gracefully falls back to `true` when react-navigation is not installed.
+ *
+ * This allows the SDK to work without requiring `@react-navigation/native`
+ * as a hard dependency. Users who do not use react-navigation (or do not use
+ * the inbox feature with navigation) will not need to install it.
+ *
+ * @see https://github.com/Iterable/react-native-sdk/issues/770
+ */
+
+let reactNavigationHook: (() => boolean) | undefined;
+
+try {
+  // Dynamic import via require is necessary here to gracefully handle the case
+  // where @react-navigation/native is not installed.
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports, @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
+  const reactNavigation = require('@react-navigation/native');
+  reactNavigationHook = reactNavigation.useIsFocused;
+} catch {
+  // @react-navigation/native is not installed
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns whether the screen is currently focused.
+ *
+ * If `@react-navigation/native` is installed, this delegates to its
+ * `useIsFocused` hook. Otherwise it returns `true` (always focused).
+ */
+export function useIsFocused(): boolean {
+  if (reactNavigationHook) {
+    return reactNavigationHook();
+  }
+  return true;
+}
diff --git a/src/inbox/components/IterableInbox.tsx b/src/inbox/components/IterableInbox.tsx
index 3cf44d829..317ae99a1 100644
--- a/src/inbox/components/IterableInbox.tsx
+++ b/src/inbox/components/IterableInbox.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { useIsFocused } from '@react-navigation/native';
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 import {
   Animated,
@@ -11,7 +10,7 @@ import {
 import { SafeAreaView } from 'react-native-safe-area-context';
 
 import RNIterableAPI from '../../api';
-import { useAppStateListener, useDeviceOrientation } from '../../core';
+import { useAppStateListener, useDeviceOrientation, useIsFocused } from '../../core';
 // expo throws an error if this is not imported directly due to circular
 // dependencies
 // See: https://github.com/expo/expo/issues/35100