diff --git a/mypy/sitepkgs.py b/mypy/sitepkgs.py
index 2a13e4b246bf..79dd5d80fcf6 100644
--- a/mypy/sitepkgs.py
+++ b/mypy/sitepkgs.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
     import sys
     sys.path = sys.path[1:]  # we don't want to pick up mypy.types
 
-from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib
 import site
 
 MYPY = False
@@ -25,6 +24,7 @@ def getsitepackages():
         user_dir = site.getusersitepackages()
         return site.getsitepackages() + [user_dir]
     else:
+        from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib
         return [get_python_lib()]