diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/common.py b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/common.py
index 12b3aa708c..1eb900bbec 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/common.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/common.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 """Common environment variables unique to the instructor plugin."""
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
 
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/production.py b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/production.py
index b3e73a4088..4ea1626fed 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/production.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/settings/production.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 """AWS environment variables unique to the instructor plugin."""
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
 import warnings