diff --git a/src/pip/_vendor/html5lib/_utils.py b/src/pip/_vendor/html5lib/_utils.py
index 0703afb38b1..96eb17b2c17 100644
--- a/src/pip/_vendor/html5lib/_utils.py
+++ b/src/pip/_vendor/html5lib/_utils.py
@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@
 
 from types import ModuleType
 
-from pip._vendor.six import text_type
+from pip._vendor.six import text_type, PY3
 
-try:
-    import xml.etree.cElementTree as default_etree
-except ImportError:
+if PY3:
     import xml.etree.ElementTree as default_etree
+else:
+    try:
+        import xml.etree.cElementTree as default_etree
+    except ImportError:
+        import xml.etree.ElementTree as default_etree
 
 
 __all__ = ["default_etree", "MethodDispatcher", "isSurrogatePair",