diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/misc/xmlReader.py b/Lib/fontTools/misc/xmlReader.py
index ec8927d14..f63630ade 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/misc/xmlReader.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/misc/xmlReader.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from fontTools.misc.py23 import *
 from fontTools import ttLib
 from fontTools.misc.textTools import safeEval
 from fontTools.ttLib.tables.DefaultTable import DefaultTable
+import sys
 import os
 import logging