diff --git a/speech/cloud-client/transcribe.py b/speech/cloud-client/transcribe.py
index 26b61d69f1c..1ff446d4365 100644
--- a/speech/cloud-client/transcribe.py
+++ b/speech/cloud-client/transcribe.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 """
 
 import argparse
-import io
 
 
 # [START speech_transcribe_sync]
@@ -32,6 +31,7 @@ def transcribe_file(speech_file):
     from google.cloud import speech
     from google.cloud.speech import enums
     from google.cloud.speech import types
+    import io
     client = speech.SpeechClient()
 
     # [START speech_python_migration_sync_request]