diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/library/alternate_views.py b/src/calibre/gui2/library/alternate_views.py
index d27a09a527..51b30af716 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/library/alternate_views.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/library/alternate_views.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ from io import BytesIO
 from textwrap import wrap
 from threading import Event, Thread
 
-from PIL import Image
 from qt.core import (
     QAbstractItemView,
     QApplication,
@@ -1017,6 +1016,7 @@ class GridView(QListView):
                                                                      as_what='pil_image')
             if has_cover:
                 if tcdata is None:
+                    from PIL import Image
                     # The cached cover is up-to-date. Convert the cached bytes
                     # to a PIL image
                     cache_valid = True