diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/ansiballz_streamline_imports.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/ansiballz_streamline_imports.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..04aaec0141e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/ansiballz_streamline_imports.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+minor_changes:
+- Removed an unnecessary import from the AnsiballZ wrapper
diff --git a/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py b/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py
index 009eb06c483..feff2af2e3d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py
@@ -143,12 +143,6 @@ if sys.version_info < (3,):
 else:
     unicode = str
     PY3 = True
-try:
-    # Python-2.6+
-    from io import BytesIO as IOStream
-except ImportError:
-    # Python < 2.6
-    from StringIO import StringIO as IOStream
 
 ZIPDATA = """%(zipdata)s"""