diff --git a/lib/pycocotools/mask.py b/lib/pycocotools/mask.py
index e61ca68fc..2ace35752 100644
--- a/lib/pycocotools/mask.py
+++ b/lib/pycocotools/mask.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 __author__ = 'tsungyi'
 
-from . import _mask
+# from . import _mask
+import pycocotools._mask as _mask
 
 # Interface for manipulating masks stored in RLE format.
 #
@@ -79,4 +80,4 @@
 merge       = _mask.merge
 area        = _mask.area
 toBbox      = _mask.toBbox
-frPyObjects = _mask.frPyObjects
\ No newline at end of file
+frPyObjects = _mask.frPyObjects