diff --git a/spacy/__init__.py b/spacy/__init__.py
index dd8af47ac..6723c2be4 100644
--- a/spacy/__init__.py
+++ b/spacy/__init__.py
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ def load(name, **overrides):
     meta = util.parse_package_meta(model_path)
     if 'lang' not in meta:
         raise IOError('No language setting found in model meta.')
-    module = importlib.import_module('.%s' % meta['lang'], 'spacy')
-    cls = getattr(module, module.__all__[0])
+    cls = util.load_lang_class(meta['lang'])
     overrides['meta'] = meta
     overrides['path'] = model_path
     return cls(**overrides)
diff --git a/spacy/util.py b/spacy/util.py
index 0429904c0..8baa70952 100644
--- a/spacy/util.py
+++ b/spacy/util.py
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ def get_lang_class(name):
     return LANGUAGES[lang]
 
 
+def load_lang_class(lang, depth='.'):
+    module = importlib.import_module('.lang.%s' % lang, 'spacy')
+    return getattr(module, module.__all__[0])
+
+
 def get_data_path(require_exists=True):
     if not require_exists:
         return _data_path