Merge pull request #18032 from meeseeksmachine/auto-backport-of-pr-18026-on-v3.3.x

timhoffm · web-flow · commit fabcc808dedd · 2020-07-23T14:40:04.000+02:00
Backport PR #18026 on branch v3.3.x (FIX: Be sure matplotlib.backends is imported before we use it)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -227,7 +227,8 @@ def switch_backend(newbackend):
         The name of the backend to use.
     """
     global _backend_mod
-
+    # make sure the init is pulled up so we can assign to it later
+    import matplotlib.backends
     close("all")
 
     if newbackend is rcsetup._auto_backend_sentinel:
