diff --git a/holoviews/__init__.py b/holoviews/__init__.py
index 9286e68849..c76481a31c 100644
--- a/holoviews/__init__.py
+++ b/holoviews/__init__.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 __version__ = param.Version(release=(1,6,2), fpath=__file__,
                             commit="$Format:%h$", reponame='holoviews')
 
+import holoviews.util
 from .core import archive                               # noqa (API import)
 from .core.dimension import OrderedDict, Dimension      # noqa (API import)
 from .core.boundingregion import BoundingBox            # noqa (API import)
@@ -24,7 +25,6 @@
 from .interface import *                                             # noqa (API import)
 from .operation import ElementOperation, MapOperation, TreeOperation # noqa (API import)
 from .element import *                                               # noqa (API import)
-from . import util # noqa (API import)
 from .element import __all__ as elements_list
 
 # Surpress warnings generated by NumPy in matplotlib