diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/__init__.py b/modules/gui/pymod/__init__.py
index 78c1617af5a25907fa2f21472e59fe4ec4aa45cb..fc8d1494c41b4daec849c7af1f33935119f3516a 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/__init__.py
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/__init__.py
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 import ost.gui.trajectory_viewer
 from ._ost_gui import *
-import sip
-
 
 ## \brief Opens a DataViewer 
 # \sa \example fft_li.py "View Fourier Transform Example" \sa \ref modulate_image.py "Modulate Image Example"
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/export_input.cc b/modules/gui/pymod/export_input.cc
index 06846fc98ace3c57af3d7435f3bbf72fe7dc6687..8aec22c2b7c5717905dfffaedb06e96e09701284 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/export_input.cc
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/export_input.cc
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ namespace {
 
 object spnav_get_instance()
 {
-  static object sip_module=import("sip");
   static object pyqt5_module=import("PyQt5.QtCore");
+  static object sip_module=import("sip");
   SpnavInput* si = SpnavInput::Instance();
   if(si->isValid()) {
     return ost::gui::get_py_qobject<SpnavInput>(si);
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/init_context_menu.py b/modules/gui/pymod/init_context_menu.py
index 9693ef5c8db13ef1dca585a17614eb77650aaa6b..a241253f1d0e1886e2c9214b2949236591acff53 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/init_context_menu.py
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/init_context_menu.py
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ import platform
 
 from PyQt5 import QtCore, QtWidgets
 
-import sip
-
 from ost import geom, gfx, gui, seq
 from ost import settings
 from ost import LogError, mol
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/init_menubar.py b/modules/gui/pymod/init_menubar.py
index c245f0f3ceccfd682d40a22d7df94562be2feb9b..2c8f05c4d8f92c834fbe85591c496f5c3af7d7b8 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/init_menubar.py
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/init_menubar.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 import sys
 from ost import gui
-import sip
 from ost import gfx
 import ost
 
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/file_loader.py b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/file_loader.py
index adf747d10b27ff9b7c19b682fb9aa86d0c33f03f..567450218fa9d77cb213e7a7b799dc29a9a73ac4 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/file_loader.py
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/file_loader.py
@@ -20,9 +20,7 @@
 from ost import gui
 from ost import info
 import ost
-import sip
 import re
-
 from PyQt5 import QtCore, QtGui, QtNetwork
 from ost.gui import FileLoader
 
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/init_inspector.py b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/init_inspector.py
index 99fea817bfbe79c96479494e8b040c46c4c19a37..f250b80ea0b511733fc16a32ca988040e1cf16b2 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/init_inspector.py
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/init_inspector.py
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 # 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-import sip
-
 from ost import gui
 from ost import gfx
 from PyQt5 import QtCore
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/inspector_widget.py b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/inspector_widget.py
index f1d98d3778ef603cf3cc9849b3a01661b60fba16..5ae8b872508c8a7e77d91626c67802c43950d39d 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/inspector_widget.py
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/inspector_widget.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 import sys
 from ost import gui
-import sip
 from ost import gfx
 import ost
 import os
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/scene_selection_helper.py b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/scene_selection_helper.py
index 91686daf2270378337e2935cb8ad75c733854e7f..0c2d8d09aa127d3241c7019c4f17ff25e28cc727 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/scene/scene_selection_helper.py
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/scene/scene_selection_helper.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 import sys
 from ost import gui
-import sip
 from ost import gfx
 import ost
 import os
diff --git a/modules/gui/pymod/sip_handler.hh b/modules/gui/pymod/sip_handler.hh
index c2f9c189a1a2a4710e88e125360c8e36b498a244..5a37b312ac79836b04c5cfde7ae0fb82a71ffe71 100644
--- a/modules/gui/pymod/sip_handler.hh
+++ b/modules/gui/pymod/sip_handler.hh
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ namespace ost { namespace gui {
 template <class O> object get_py_qobject(O* cpp_object)
 {
   if (cpp_object != NULL){
-    static object sip_module=import("sip");
     static object pyqt5_module=import("PyQt5.QtCore");
+    static object sip_module=import("sip");
     QObject* qobject = qobject_cast<QObject*>(cpp_object);
     unsigned long addr = reinterpret_cast<unsigned long>(qobject);
     object py_qobject = pyqt5_module.attr("QObject");
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ template <class O> O* get_cpp_qobject(object py_object)
     if(PyObject_HasAttrString(py_object.ptr(), "qobject")){
       py_object = py_object.attr("qobject");
     }
+    static object pyqt5_module=import("PyQt5.QtCore");
     static object sip_module=import("sip");
     unsigned long addr = extract<unsigned long>(sip_module.attr("unwrapinstance")(py_object));
     if(addr){