diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/collection_loader/_collection_config.py b/lib/ansible/utils/collection_loader/_collection_config.py
index 49de68b135e..a20319319ce 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/collection_loader/_collection_config.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/collection_loader/_collection_config.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
 __metaclass__ = type
 
 from ansible.module_utils.common.text.converters import to_text
+from ansible.module_utils.six import with_metaclass
 
 
 class _EventSource:
@@ -102,5 +103,5 @@ class _AnsibleCollectionConfig(type):
 
 
 # concrete class of our metaclass type that defines the class properties we want
-class AnsibleCollectionConfig(metaclass=_AnsibleCollectionConfig):
+class AnsibleCollectionConfig(with_metaclass(_AnsibleCollectionConfig)):
     pass