ImportError in importing from sklearn: cannot import name check_build

Question

I am getting the following error while trying to import from sklearn:

>>> from sklearn import svm

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#17>", line 1, in <module>
   from sklearn import svm
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\sklearn\__init__.py", line 16, in <module>
   from . import check_build
ImportError: cannot import name check_build

I am using python 2.7, scipy-0.12.0b1 superpack, numpy-1.6.0 superpack, scikit-learn-0.11 I have a windows 7 machine

I have checked several answers for this issue but none of them gives a way out of this error.

Solution 1

Worked for me after installing scipy.

Solution 2

>>> from sklearn import preprocessing, metrics, cross_validation

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#6>", line 1, in <module>
    from sklearn import preprocessing, metrics, cross_validation
  File "D:\Python27\lib\site-packages\sklearn\__init__.py", line 31, in <module>
    from . import __check_build
ImportError: cannot import name __check_build
>>> ================================ RESTART ================================
>>> from sklearn import preprocessing, metrics, cross_validation
>>> 

So, simply try to restart the shell!

Solution 3

My solution for Python 3.6.5 64-bit Windows 10:

1. pip uninstall sklearn
2. pip uninstall scikit-learn
3. pip install sklearn

No need to restart command-line but you can do this if you want. It took me one day to fix this bug. Hope this help.

Solution 4

After installing numpy , scipy ,sklearn still has error

Solution:

Setting Up System Path Variable for Python & the PYTHONPATH Environment Variable

System Variables: add C:\Python34 into path User Variables: add new: (name)PYTHONPATH (value)C:\Python34\Lib\site-packages;

Solution 5

Usually when I get these kinds of errors, opening the __init__.py file and poking around helps. Go to the directory C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\sklearn and ensure that there's a sub-directory called __check_build as a first step. On my machine (with a working sklearn installation, Mac OSX, Python 2.7.3) I have __init__.py, setup.py, their associated .pyc files, and a binary _check_build.so.

Poking around the __init__.py in that directory, the next step I'd take is to go to sklearn/__init__.py and comment out the import statement---the check_build stuff just checks that things were compiled correctly, it doesn't appear to do anything but call a precompiled binary. This is, of course, at your own risk, and (to be sure) a work around. If your build failed you'll likely soon run into other, bigger problems.

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Comments

[ayush singhal]

I do not have _check_build.so in the folder , What can I do to get this for python 2.7

[BenDundee]

Did you try commenting out the line that tries to import it in sklearn/__init__.py?

[Andreas Mueller]

For the moment, you can comment out the line that does the import, that should get you running. Can you then please open an issue in the issue tracker github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn/issues looks like a bug.

[Basic]

FWIW Commenting out the import in __init__.py didn't fix the problem but did expose a different error - my scipy install had not succeeded. The error in the question was masking the real issue

[icedwater]

Magic answers like this are not really helpful because they don't solve the problem. What if a restart doesn't fix it?

[alexbw]

Just mentioning that this happened to me with scikit-learn 0.15.2 compiled against numpy 1.9 and python 2.7.

[Jared Forsyth]

If you don't want to restart, del sys.modules['sklearn.__check_build']; import sklearn will also work

[user3236650]

go to C:\Python34\Lib\site-packages\sklearn Double click init.py and setup.py.

[mannuscript]

Plus restarting the python shell. :)

[Punnerud]

Check if there is a file called "sklearn" in the same folder. Try running from a different folder. Solved it for me (my fault). Find file with <ls | grep -i "sklearn">

[Abhimanu Kumar]

@Mannu Yes; Also for me on jupyter notebook, just restarting (shutting down and click-open again) that ipynb py-kernel worked without restarting all of the jupyter notebook.

[rwp]

If you're essentially saying that the latest version of sklearn fixes the bug, it would be helpful to state which version numbers of sklearn you upgrade to. Thanks.

[pylang]

scipy.stats also did not work also raised an error. In my case, I had a file called multiprocessing.py in the same directory that somehow conflicted with the kernel's socket connection. Fixed by renaming the file multiprocessing_.py (leading underscore did not work).

[Napuu]

In Windows 10 I also had to enable long paths before executing these einstructions stackoverflow.com/questions/54778630/…