Merge fix for #16489 from 3.3

3 files changed, 10 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/library/importlib.rst b/Doc/library/importlib.rst
index 55bd59e..0369570 100644
--- a/Doc/library/importlib.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/importlib.rst
@@ -94,11 +94,10 @@ Functions
    :exc:`ValueError` is raised). Otherwise a search using :attr:`sys.meta_path`
    is done. ``None`` is returned if no loader is found.
 
-   A dotted name does not have its parent's implicitly imported. If that is
-   desired (although not nessarily required to find the loader, it will most
-   likely be needed if the loader actually is used to load the module), then
-   you will have to import the packages containing the module prior to calling
-   this function.
+   A dotted name does not have its parent's implicitly imported as that requires
+   loading them and that may not be desired. To properly import a submodule you
+   will need to import all parent packages of the submodule and use the correct
+   argument to *path*.
 
 .. function:: invalidate_caches()
 
diff --git a/Lib/importlib/__init__.py b/Lib/importlib/__init__.py
index 6f40dac..22c90f2 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/__init__.py
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ def find_loader(name, path=None):
     value of 'path' given to the finders. None is returned if no loader could
     be found.
 
-    Dotted names do not have their parent packages implicitly imported.
+    Dotted names do not have their parent packages implicitly imported. You will
+    most likely need to explicitly import all parent packages in the proper
+    order for a submodule to get the correct loader.
 
     """
     try:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 9a78c08..a544b8b 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -376,6 +376,9 @@ Build
 Documentation
 -------------
 
+- Issue #16489: Make it clearer that importlib.find_loader() needs parent
+  packages to be explicitly imported.
+
 - Issue #16400: Update the description of which versions of a given package
   PyPI displays.