diff --git a/qtpy/__init__.py b/qtpy/__init__.py
index d5f0e25c..cf22d1e1 100644
--- a/qtpy/__init__.py
+++ b/qtpy/__init__.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class PythonQtError(Exception):
 
 API_NAME = {'pyqt5': 'PyQt5', 'pyqt': 'PyQt4', 'pyqt4': 'PyQt4',
             'pyside': 'PySide'}[API]
-if API in PYQT4_API:
+if PYQT4:
         import sip
         try:
             API_NAME += (" (API v{0})".format(sip.getapi('QString')))