diff --git a/anki/utils.py b/anki/utils.py
index 726d1563f..6272a8580 100644
--- a/anki/utils.py
+++ b/anki/utils.py
@@ -18,9 +18,11 @@ from hashlib import sha1
 import platform
 import traceback
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-
 from anki.lang import _, ngettext
 
+# some add-ons expect json to be in the utils module
+import json # pylint: disable=unused-import
+
 # Time handling
 ##############################################################################