diff --git a/deepspeed/autotuning/utils.py b/deepspeed/autotuning/utils.py
index 384f06ef0b48..81bbac2cfe93 100644
--- a/deepspeed/autotuning/utils.py
+++ b/deepspeed/autotuning/utils.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import collections.abc
 import os
 import json
-from ssl import OP_ENABLE_MIDDLEBOX_COMPAT
 from deepspeed.runtime.constants import GRADIENT_ACCUMULATION_STEPS, TRAIN_MICRO_BATCH_SIZE_PER_GPU
 import hjson
 import sys