pip install failed on Python 3.12+

[shi0rik0]

I'm trying to manually build a wheel from source. My Python version is 3.13. When I run pip install ., I see the following error:

      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Lib\site-packages\pip\_vendor\pyproject_hooks\_in_process\_in_process.py", line 353, in <module>
          main()
          ~~~~^^
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Lib\site-packages\pip\_vendor\pyproject_hooks\_in_process\_in_process.py", line 335, in main
          json_out['return_val'] = hook(**hook_input['kwargs'])
                                   ~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Lib\site-packages\pip\_vendor\pyproject_hooks\_in_process\_in_process.py", line 112, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
          backend = _build_backend()
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Lib\site-packages\pip\_vendor\pyproject_hooks\_in_process\_in_process.py", line 77, in _build_backend
          obj = import_module(mod_path)
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Lib\importlib\__init__.py", line 88, in import_module
          return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1310, in _find_and_load_unlocked
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1331, in _find_and_load_unlocked
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 935, in _load_unlocked
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1022, in exec_module
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-env-jll306wz\overlay\Lib\site-packages\setuptools\__init__.py", line 16, in <module>
          import setuptools.version
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-env-jll306wz\overlay\Lib\site-packages\setuptools\version.py", line 1, in <module>
          import pkg_resources
        File "C:\Users\anguu\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-env-jll306wz\overlay\Lib\site-packages\pkg_resources\__init__.py", line 2172, in <module>
          register_finder(pkgutil.ImpImporter, find_on_path)
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
      AttributeError: module 'pkgutil' has no attribute 'ImpImporter'. Did you mean: 'zipimporter'?
      [end of output]

  note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: subprocess-exited-with-error

I did some search and found that it may be due to the removal of deprecated ImpImporter since Python 3.12 (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77364550/attributeerror-module-pkgutil-has-no-attribute-impimporter-did-you-mean).

One possible fix is to update setuptools, so I changed the build dependencies specified in pyproject.toml and it worked.

[build-system]
requires = [
  "cmake>=3.1",
  "numpy==1.13.3; python_version=='3.6' and platform_machine != 'aarch64' and platform_machine != 'arm64'",
  "numpy==1.17.0; python_version=='3.7' and platform_machine != 'aarch64' and platform_machine != 'arm64'",
  "numpy==1.17.5; python_version=='3.8' and platform_machine != 'aarch64' and platform_machine != 'arm64'",
  "numpy==1.19.3; python_version<'3.9' and sys_platform == 'linux' and platform_machine == 'aarch64'",
  "numpy==1.21.0; python_version<'3.9' and sys_platform == 'darwin' and platform_machine == 'arm64'",
  "numpy>=2.0.0;  python_version>='3.9'",
  "pip",
  "scikit-build>=0.14.0",
  "setuptools", # <----- I removed the version "==59.2.0"
]

However, changing the version of setuptools may cause unexpected affects. Could you please investigate this bug and publish an official fix?

Issue submission checklist

• This is not a generic OpenCV usage question (looking for help for coding, other usage questions, homework etc.)
• I have read the README of this repository and understand that this repository provides only an automated build toolchain for OpenCV Python packages (there is no actual OpenCV code here)
• The issue is related to the build scripts in this repository, to the pre-built binaries or is a feature request (such as "please enable this additional dependency")
• I'm using the latest version of opencv-python

[patchmeifyoucan]

I am also interested in using OpenCV with Python 3.13, especially the free-threaded 3.13t builds. What is the current status of support and the general agenda to support the free-threaded builds?

[xbkaishui]

agree +1, any update on this

[cpatulea]

I was using Home Assistant + OpenCV last year. This year I updated OpenCV to the latest version, and got the surprise that they dropped OpenCV (home-assistant/core#94617). The developers had tried to update OpenCV version during the Python 3.11 update, but failed and reverted (home-assistant/core#91802). The state today is that Home Assistant uses Python 3.13, and the wheel build still fails with the 'pkgutil.ImpImporter' error. Repro in the Home Assistant build environment:

$ docker pull ghcr.io/home-assistant/wheels/amd64/musllinux_1_2/cp313:dev
$ docker run --rm --entrypoint="" -it ghcr.io/home-assistant/wheels/amd64/musllinux_1_2/cp313:dev bash
75c590f38fa7:/data# pip install opencv-python-headless
Collecting opencv-python-headless
  Downloading opencv-python-headless-4.10.0.84.tar.gz (95.1 MB)
  Installing build dependencies ... done
  Getting requirements to build wheel ... error
  error: subprocess-exited-with-error

  × Getting requirements to build wheel did not run successfully.
  │ exit code: 1
  ╰─> [32 lines of output]
      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 353, in <module>
          main()
          ~~~~^^
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 335, in main
          json_out['return_val'] = hook(**hook_input['kwargs'])
                                   ~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 112, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
          backend = _build_backend()
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 77, in _build_backend
          obj = import_module(mod_path)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/importlib/__init__.py", line 88, in import_module
          return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1310, in _find_and_load_unlocked
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1331, in _find_and_load_unlocked
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 935, in _load_unlocked
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1022, in exec_module
        File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
        File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1_kw6d26/overlay/lib/python3.13/site-packages/setuptools/__init__.py", line 16, in <module>
          import setuptools.version
        File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1_kw6d26/overlay/lib/python3.13/site-packages/setuptools/version.py", line 1, in <module>
          import pkg_resources
        File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1_kw6d26/overlay/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 2172, in <module>
          register_finder(pkgutil.ImpImporter, find_on_path)
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
      AttributeError: module 'pkgutil' has no attribute 'ImpImporter'. Did you mean: 'zipimporter'?
      [end of output]

  note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: subprocess-exited-with-error

× Getting requirements to build wheel did not run successfully.
│ exit code: 1
╰─> See above for output.

note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.

I used to have a very simple image processing script that reads from a phone camera, runs some simple OpenCV operations, and provides data to Home Assistant, and for now I don't see any way to get my script running working again.

[cpatulea]

This pull request looks related: #1061

[cpatulea]

More PR related to 3.12 / setuputils: #1012

[cpatulea]

And 3.12 related issue: #988

[asmorkalov]

Fixed in #1061