diff --git a/qt/python/mantidqt/utils/qt/__init__.py b/qt/python/mantidqt/utils/qt/__init__.py
index c435c41cb764bc669700c2d7e2fe104a247311dc..9c1da5d4ae3db5f37ad8363827e29b57335b78f9 100644
--- a/qt/python/mantidqt/utils/qt/__init__.py
+++ b/qt/python/mantidqt/utils/qt/__init__.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def import_qt(modulename, package, attr=None):
     if modulename.startswith('.'):
         try:
             lib = import_module(modulename + LIB_SUFFIX, package)
-        except ImportError as e:
+        except ImportError:
             lib = import_module(modulename.lstrip('.') + LIB_SUFFIX)
     else:
         lib = import_module(modulename + LIB_SUFFIX)