diff --git a/rest_framework/compat.py b/rest_framework/compat.py
index ac5cbc572..080816094 100644
--- a/rest_framework/compat.py
+++ b/rest_framework/compat.py
@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@ except ImportError:
     uritemplate = None
 
 
+# async_to_sync is required for async View support
+if django.VERSION >= (3, 1):
+    from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
+else:
+    async_to_sync = None
+
+
 # coreschema is optional
 try:
     import coreschema
diff --git a/rest_framework/views.py b/rest_framework/views.py
index dac7fbb57..96591d591 100644
--- a/rest_framework/views.py
+++ b/rest_framework/views.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ Provides an APIView class that is the base of all views in REST framework.
 """
 import asyncio
 
-import django
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
 from django.db import connections, models
@@ -15,17 +14,13 @@ from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
 from django.views.generic import View
 
 from rest_framework import exceptions, status
+from rest_framework.compat import async_to_sync
 from rest_framework.request import Request
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.schemas import DefaultSchema
 from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 from rest_framework.utils import formatting
 
-if django.VERSION >= (3, 1):
-    from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
-else:
-    async_to_sync = None
-
 
 def get_view_name(view):
     """