diff --git a/src/calibre/debug.py b/src/calibre/debug.py
index dcad481c4f..58825d09e0 100644
--- a/src/calibre/debug.py
+++ b/src/calibre/debug.py
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ def run_calibre_debug(*args, **kw):
     import subprocess
     creationflags = 0
     if iswindows:
-        import win32process
-        creationflags = win32process.CREATE_NO_WINDOW
+        creationflags = subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW
     cmd = get_debug_executable() + list(args)
     kw['creationflags'] = creationflags
     return subprocess.Popen(cmd, **kw)
diff --git a/src/calibre/devices/usbms/device.py b/src/calibre/devices/usbms/device.py
index 6cd2417539..6974a6a701 100644
--- a/src/calibre/devices/usbms/device.py
+++ b/src/calibre/devices/usbms/device.py
@@ -845,8 +845,7 @@ class Device(DeviceConfig, DevicePlugin):
                 drives.append(x[0].upper())
 
         def do_it(drives):
-            import win32process
-            subprocess.Popen([eject_exe()] + drives, creationflags=win32process.CREATE_NO_WINDOW).wait()
+            subprocess.Popen([eject_exe()] + drives, creationflags=subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW).wait()
 
         t = Thread(target=do_it, args=[drives])
         t.daemon = True
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/pdf.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/pdf.py
index c1464b2f3e..8e4733bd7c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/pdf.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/pdf.py
@@ -87,8 +87,7 @@ def page_images(pdfpath, outputdir='.', first=1, last=1, image_format='jpeg', pr
     outputdir = os.path.abspath(outputdir)
     args = {}
     if iswindows:
-        import win32process as w
-        args['creationflags'] = w.HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS | w.CREATE_NO_WINDOW
+        args['creationflags'] = subprocess.HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS | subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW
     try:
         subprocess.check_call([
             pdftoppm, '-cropbox', '-' + image_format, '-f', unicode_type(first),
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py b/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py
index a555e0fca0..78168ecd5b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ from polyglot.builtins import string_or_bytes, environ_item, native_string_type,
 from polyglot.binary import as_hex_unicode
 
 if iswindows:
-    import win32process
     try:
         windows_null_file = open(os.devnull, 'wb')
     except:
@@ -160,10 +159,10 @@ class Worker(object):
                 }
         if iswindows:
             priority = {
-                    'high'   : win32process.HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS,
-                    'normal' : win32process.NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,
-                    'low'    : win32process.IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS}[priority]
-            args['creationflags'] = win32process.CREATE_NO_WINDOW|priority
+                    'high'   : subprocess.HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS,
+                    'normal' : subprocess.NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,
+                    'low'    : subprocess.IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS}[priority]
+            args['creationflags'] = subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW|priority
         else:
             niceness = {
                     'normal' : 0,
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/ipc/simple_worker.py b/src/calibre/utils/ipc/simple_worker.py
index bf4618660a..642ee9fb9d 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/ipc/simple_worker.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/ipc/simple_worker.py
@@ -147,12 +147,11 @@ def start_pipe_worker(command, env=None, priority='normal', **process_args):
     args = {'stdout':subprocess.PIPE, 'stdin':subprocess.PIPE, 'env':w.env}
     args.update(process_args)
     if iswindows:
-        import win32process
         priority = {
-                'high'   : win32process.HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS,
-                'normal' : win32process.NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,
-                'low'    : win32process.IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS}[priority]
-        args['creationflags'] = win32process.CREATE_NO_WINDOW|priority
+                'high'   : subprocess.HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS,
+                'normal' : subprocess.NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,
+                'low'    : subprocess.IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS}[priority]
+        args['creationflags'] = subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW|priority
     else:
         niceness = {'normal' : 0, 'low'    : 10, 'high'   : 20}[priority]
         args['env']['CALIBRE_WORKER_NICENESS'] = str(niceness)
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/test_lock.py b/src/calibre/utils/test_lock.py
index 893e079efe..674ebb21a2 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/test_lock.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/test_lock.py
@@ -50,8 +50,7 @@ def run_worker(mod, func, **kw):
     env = kw.get('env', os.environ.copy())
     env['CALIBRE_SIMPLE_WORKER'] = mod + ':' + func
     if iswindows:
-        import win32process
-        kw['creationflags'] = win32process.CREATE_NO_WINDOW
+        kw['creationflags'] = subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW
     kw['env'] = {native_string_type(k): native_string_type(v)
                  for k, v in iteritems(env)}  # windows needs bytes in env
     return subprocess.Popen(exe, **kw)