diff --git a/django/core/management.py b/django/core/management.py
index c2f56eb676..1656b00c9a 100644
--- a/django/core/management.py
+++ b/django/core/management.py
@@ -1542,8 +1542,6 @@ def print_error(msg, cmd):
     sys.exit(1)
 
 def execute_from_command_line(action_mapping=DEFAULT_ACTION_MAPPING, argv=None):
-    from django.db import backend
-    
     # Use sys.argv if we've not passed in a custom argv
     if argv is None:
         argv = sys.argv
@@ -1654,6 +1652,7 @@ def execute_from_command_line(action_mapping=DEFAULT_ACTION_MAPPING, argv=None):
         if not mod_list:
             parser.print_usage_and_exit()
         if action not in NO_SQL_TRANSACTION:
+            from django.db import backend
             print style.SQL_KEYWORD(backend.get_start_transaction_sql())
         for mod in mod_list:
             if action == 'reset':