diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/utils/datetime.py b/src/pip/_internal/utils/datetime.py
index b638646c8..4d0503c2f 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/utils/datetime.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/utils/datetime.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 """For when pip wants to check the date or time.
 """
 
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
 import datetime