diff --git a/fsl/utils/platform.py b/fsl/utils/platform.py
index e54440d8a8dcd85058a53eab12b2c6bcf37e6dac..7736b6812eb034e7f87323a94034b0aa88c5d0c4 100644
--- a/fsl/utils/platform.py
+++ b/fsl/utils/platform.py
@@ -15,10 +15,21 @@ import logging
 
 import os
 import sys
-import platform as builtin_platform
+import importlib
 
 import fsl.utils.notifier as notifier
 
+# An annoying consequence of using
+# a system-module name for our own
+# module is that we can't import
+# it directly (as it will attempt
+# to import itself, i.e. this module).
+#
+# This is only necessary in Python 2.x
+# (as python 3 disallows relative
+# imports).
+builtin_platform = importlib.import_module('platform')
+
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)