diff --git a/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py b/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
index 6acd4efd0d5..ae5e2d767a6 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@
 
 _can_read_reg = 0
 try:
-    import _winreg
+    try:
+        import _winreg
+    except ImportError:
+        import winreg                   # for pre-2000/06/29 CVS Python
+
     _can_read_reg = 1
     hkey_mod = _winreg