I ran across this wrinkle and hope that someone can shed some light. First posted to comp.lang.python, but no help there. Can anyone here enlighten me?

I have a package on sys.path containing pairs of modules, each importing the other::

package/ __init__.py: # empty

module1.py: import module2 # relative import

module2.py: import module1

Executing "from package import module1" works fine. Changing the import statements to absolute dotted forms also works for "from package import module3"::

module3.py: import package.module4 # absolute import

module4.py: import package.module3

However, if I change both imports to be absolute using the "from/import" form, it doesn't work::

module5.py: from package import module6 # absolute import

module6.py: from package import module5

Now I get an exception::

>>> from package import module5 Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in ? File "package/module5.py", line 1, in ? from package import module6 File "package/module6.py", line 1, in ? from package import module5 ImportError: cannot import name module5

Is this behavior expected? Or is it a bug? I note that FAQ entry 4.37 [*]_ says we shouldn't do "from <module> import *"; I'm not. Are all "from import" statements forbidden in this context? Why? (It seems to me that "import package.module" and "from package import module" are equivalent imports, except for their effect on the local namespace.) Is there an authoritative reference (docs, past c.l.p post, bug report, etc.)?

.. [*] http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw.py?req=show&file=faq04.037.htp