diff --git a/userena/runtests/runtests.py b/userena/runtests/runtests.py
index 2344b160..fd66e522 100755
--- a/userena/runtests/runtests.py
+++ b/userena/runtests/runtests.py
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@
 from django.db.models import get_app
 from django.test.utils import get_runner
 
-from south.management.commands import patch_for_test_db_setup
-
 
 def usage():
     return """
@@ -55,6 +53,7 @@ def main():
         # starting from 1.7.0 built in django migrations are run
         # for older releases this patch is required to enable testing with
         # migrations
+        from south.management.commands import patch_for_test_db_setup
         patch_for_test_db_setup()
 
     failures = test_runner.run_tests(test_modules or ['userena'])