diff --git a/Tools/autotest/sim_vehicle.py b/Tools/autotest/sim_vehicle.py
index 39301b0319a4a6..9c5e7fa5469354 100755
--- a/Tools/autotest/sim_vehicle.py
+++ b/Tools/autotest/sim_vehicle.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import binascii
 import math
 
-from pymavlink import mavextra
 from pysim import vehicleinfo
 
 
@@ -38,6 +37,12 @@
 autotest_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 root_dir = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(autotest_dir, '../..'))
 
+try:
+    from pymavlink import mavextra
+except ImportError:
+    sys.path.append(os.path.join(root_dir, "modules/mavlink"))
+    from pymavlink import mavextra
+
 os.environ["SIM_VEHICLE_SESSION"] = binascii.hexlify(os.urandom(8)).decode()