diff --git a/PIL/ImageFont.py b/PIL/ImageFont.py
index 97dafdd6a..73d6b3559 100644
--- a/PIL/ImageFont.py
+++ b/PIL/ImageFont.py
@@ -36,9 +36,7 @@ class _imagingft_not_installed:
         raise ImportError("The _imagingft C module is not installed")
 
 try:
-    import _imagingft
-    core = _imagingft
-    del _imagingft
+    from . import _imagingft as core
 except ImportError:
     core = _imagingft_not_installed()