diff --git a/skimage/novice/_novice.py b/skimage/novice/_novice.py
index c582ef0e..fb593a69 100644
--- a/skimage/novice/_novice.py
+++ b/skimage/novice/_novice.py
@@ -10,23 +10,9 @@ from skimage.transform import resize
 from skimage.color import color_dict
 from skimage._shared import six
 
-try:
-    from urlparse import urlparse
-except ImportError:
-    try:
-        from urllib.parse import urlparse
-    except ImportError:
-        from six.moves.urllib_parse import urlparse
-
-try:
-    from urllib2 import urlopen
-except ImportError:
-    try:
-        from urllib import request
-        urlopen = request.urlopen
-    except ImportError:
-        from six.moves.urllib import request
-        urlopen = request.urlopen
+from six.moves.urllib_parse import urlparse
+from six.moves.urllib import request
+urlopen = request.urlopen
 
 
 # Convert colors from `skimage.color` to uint8 and allow access through