diff --git a/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py b/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py
index 35dfd68abd8..23954a3e91b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/executor/module_common.py
@@ -596,7 +596,9 @@ def _find_snippet_imports(module_name, module_data, module_path, module_args, ta
                     # Create the module zip data
                     zipoutput = BytesIO()
                     zf = zipfile.ZipFile(zipoutput, mode='w', compression=compression_method)
-                    zf.writestr('ansible/__init__.py', b'from pkgutil import extend_path\n__path__=extend_path(__path__,__name__)\ntry:\n    from ansible.release import __version__,__author__\nexcept ImportError:\n    __version__="' + to_bytes(__version__) + b'"\n    __author__="' + to_bytes(__author__) + b'"\n')
+                    ### Note: If we need to import from release.py first,
+                    ### remember to catch all exceptions: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/16523
+                    zf.writestr('ansible/__init__.py', b'from pkgutil import extend_path\n__path__=extend_path(__path__,__name__)\n__version__="' + to_bytes(__version__) + b'"\n__author__="' + to_bytes(__author__) + b'"\n')
                     zf.writestr('ansible/module_utils/__init__.py', b'from pkgutil import extend_path\n__path__=extend_path(__path__,__name__)\n')
 
                     zf.writestr('ansible_module_%s.py' % module_name, module_data)