diff --git a/youtube_dl/downloader/httpfd.py b/youtube_dl/downloader/httpfd.py
index 15be74178..65a892fdb 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/downloader/httpfd.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/downloader/httpfd.py
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
 from .http import HttpFD
 
-import urllib.request as compat_urllib_request
+try:
+    import urllib.request as compat_urllib_request
+except ImportError:  # Python 2
+    import urllib2 as compat_urllib_request
 import threading