diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
index 8ef01d7421c8..df5a244d1b99 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
@@ -185,6 +185,11 @@ def compare_versions(a, b):
 
 
 def _check_versions():
+
+    # Quickfix to ensure Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable
+    # DLLs are loaded before importing kiwisolver
+    from . import ft2font
+
     for modname, minver in [
             ("cycler", "0.10"),
             ("dateutil", "2.1"),