diff --git a/util/audio.py b/util/audio.py
index 262f66a3..e713ca7c 100644
--- a/util/audio.py
+++ b/util/audio.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import sox
 import wave
 import tempfile
 import collections
-from webrtcvad import Vad
 
 DEFAULT_RATE = 16000
 DEFAULT_CHANNELS = 1
@@ -90,6 +89,7 @@ def vad_split(audio_frames,
               num_padding_frames=10,
               threshold=0.5,
               aggressiveness=3):
+    from webrtcvad import Vad
     sample_rate, channels, width = audio_format
     if channels != 1:
         raise ValueError('VAD-splitting requires mono samples')