diff --git a/Lib/tempfile.py b/Lib/tempfile.py
index 8f9cb6c3c..927d9ca07 100644
--- a/Lib/tempfile.py
+++ b/Lib/tempfile.py
@@ -45,7 +45,11 @@ import errno as _errno
 from random import Random as _Random
 import sys as _sys
 import weakref as _weakref
-import _thread
+
+try:
+    import _thread
+except ImportError:
+    import _dummy_thread as _thread
 _allocate_lock = _thread.allocate_lock
 
 _text_openflags = _os.O_RDWR | _os.O_CREAT | _os.O_EXCL