diff --git a/src/calibre/__init__.py b/src/calibre/__init__.py
index 96ecd4c1a6..ad30fe9b87 100644
--- a/src/calibre/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/__init__.py
@@ -22,15 +22,6 @@ from calibre.constants import (iswindows, isosx, islinux, isfrozen,
 from calibre.startup import winutil, winutilerror
 from calibre.utils.icu import safe_chr
 
-if False and islinux and not getattr(sys, 'frozen', False):
-    # Imported before PyQt to workaround PyQt util-linux conflict discovered on gentoo
-    # See http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=317557
-    # Importing uuid is slow so get rid of this at some point, maybe in a few
-    # years when even Debian has caught up
-    # Also remember to remove it from site.py in the binary builds
-    import uuid
-    uuid.uuid4()
-
 if False:
     # Prevent pyflakes from complaining
     winutil, winutilerror, __appname__, islinux, __version__