diff --git a/skimage/external/tifffile/__init__.py b/skimage/external/tifffile/__init__.py
index da90abdf..9ca9ec84 100644
--- a/skimage/external/tifffile/__init__.py
+++ b/skimage/external/tifffile/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 try:
     from tifffile import *
 except ImportError:
-    from ._tifffile import *
+    from .tifffile_local import *
diff --git a/skimage/external/tifffile/tiffile_.py b/skimage/external/tifffile/tifffile_local.py
similarity index 100%
rename from skimage/external/tifffile/tiffile_.py
rename to skimage/external/tifffile/tifffile_local.py