Question: I am trying to do a regular import in Google Colab. This import worked up until now. If I try: import plotly.express as px  or import pingouin as pg  I get an error: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TypeError Traceback (most recent call last) <ipython-input-19-86e89bd44552> in <module>() ----> 1 import plotly.express as px 9 frames /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/plotly/express/__init__.py in <module>() 13 ) 14 ---> 15 from ._imshow import imshow 16 from ._chart_types import ( # noqa: F401 17 scatter, /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/plotly/express/_imshow.py in <module>() 9 10 try: ---> 11 import xarray 12 13 xarray_imported = True /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/xarray/__init__.py in <module>() 1 import pkg_resources 2 ----> 3 from . import testing, tutorial, ufuncs 4 from .backends.api import ( 5 load_dataarray, /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/xarray/tutorial.py in <module>() 11 import numpy as np 12 ---> 13 from .backends.api import open_dataset as _open_dataset 14 from .backends.rasterio_ import open_rasterio as _open_rasterio 15 from .core.dataarray import DataArray /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/xarray/backends/__init__.py in <module>() 4 formats. They should not be used directly, but rather through Dataset objects. 5 ----> 6 from .cfgrib_ import CfGribDataStore 7 from .common import AbstractDataStore, BackendArray, BackendEntrypoint 8 from .file_manager import CachingFileManager, DummyFileManager, FileManager /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/xarray/backends/cfgrib_.py in <module>() 14 _normalize_path, 15 ) ---> 16 from .locks import SerializableLock, ensure_lock 17 from .store import StoreBackendEntrypoint 18 /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/xarray/backends/locks.py in <module>() 11 12 try: ---> 13 from dask.distributed import Lock as DistributedLock 14 except ImportError: 15 DistributedLock = None /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/dask/distributed.py in <module>() 1 # flake8: noqa 2 try: ----> 3 from distributed import * 4 except ImportError: 5 msg = ( /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/distributed/__init__.py in <module>() 1 from __future__ import print_function, division, absolute_import 2 ----> 3 from . import config 4 from dask.config import config 5 from .actor import Actor, ActorFuture /usr/local/lib/python3.7/dist-packages/distributed/config.py in <module>() 18 19 with open(fn) as f: ---> 20 defaults = yaml.load(f) 21 22 dask.config.update_defaults(defaults) TypeError: load() missing 1 required positional argument: 'Loader'  I think it might be a problem with Google Colab or some basic utility package that has been updated, but I can not find a way to solve it.

Answer: Found the problem. I was installing pandas_profiling, and this package updated pyyaml to version 6.0 which is not compatible with the current way Google Colab imports packages. So just reverting back to pyyaml version 5.4.1 solved the problem. For more information check versions of pyyaml here. See this issue and formal answers in GitHub ################################################################## For reverting back to pyyaml version 5.4.1 in your code, add the next line at the end of your packages installations: !pip install pyyaml==5.4.1  It is important to put it at the end of the installation, some of the installations will change the pyyaml version.