diff --git a/EMBEDR/utility.py b/EMBEDR/utility.py
index ebbd5ff..23a0598 100644
--- a/EMBEDR/utility.py
+++ b/EMBEDR/utility.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import numpy as np
 import os
 import pandas as pd
-import scanpy as sc
 from time import time
 
 ###############################################################################
@@ -40,6 +39,8 @@ def load_data(data_name,
               dtype=float,
               load_metadata=True):
 
+    import scanpy as sc
+
     metadata = None
     if data_name.lower() == 'mnist':