diff --git a/spacy/compat.py b/spacy/compat.py
index 35f6ecef3..2a551a831 100644
--- a/spacy/compat.py
+++ b/spacy/compat.py
@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     import copyreg as copy_reg
 
+try:
+    from cupy.cuda.stream import Stream as CudaStream
+except ImportError:
+    CudaStream = None
+
+try:
+    import cupy
+except ImportError:
+    cupy = None
+
+
 pickle = pickle
 copy_reg = copy_reg
 CudaStream = CudaStream
diff --git a/spacy/util.py b/spacy/util.py
index 717e4f160..0fbe9f92d 100644
--- a/spacy/util.py
+++ b/spacy/util.py
@@ -10,20 +10,12 @@ import sys
 import textwrap
 
 from .symbols import ORTH
-from .compat import path2str, basestring_, input_, unicode_
+from .compat import cupy, CudaStream, path2str, basestring_, input_, unicode_
 
 
 LANGUAGES = {}
 _data_path = Path(__file__).parent / 'data'
-try:
-    from cupy.cuda.stream import Stream as CudaStream
-except ImportError:
-    CudaStream = None
 
-try:
-    import cupy
-except ImportError:
-    cupy = None
 
 def get_lang_class(lang):
     """Import and load a Language class.