diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 2aaafd37a30e..6e9b5d65b8f8 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ __license__ = 'Public Domain'
 
 import codecs
 import getpass
+import io
 import locale
 import optparse
 import os