diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/_h_m_t_x.py b/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/_h_m_t_x.py
index ff5a9a5f1..4173796fd 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/_h_m_t_x.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/_h_m_t_x.py
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ class table__h_m_t_x(DefaultTable.DefaultTable):
 			metrics = Numeric.concatenate((metrics, 
 					Numeric.transpose(additionalMetrics)))
 		if data:
-			import sys
 			sys.stderr.write("too much data for hmtx/vmtx table\n")
 		metrics = metrics.tolist()
 		self.metrics = {}