diff --git a/packaging/apt_rpm b/packaging/apt_rpm
index 0eca3132224..a85c528a239 100755
--- a/packaging/apt_rpm
+++ b/packaging/apt_rpm
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@ EXAMPLES = '''
 '''
 
 
-import json
+try:
+    import json
+except ImportError:
+    import simplejson as json
+
 import shlex
 import os
 import sys