diff -burp Python-2.6/Include/import.h Python-2.6-issue4438/Include/import.h
--- Python-2.6/Include/import.h	2008-01-04 00:16:32.000000000 +0200
+++ Python-2.6-issue4438/Include/import.h	2008-11-26 15:39:31.000000000 +0200
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyImport_AddModul
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyImport_ImportModule(const char *name);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyImport_ImportModuleNoBlock(const char *);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(char *name,
-	PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals, PyObject *fromlist, int level);
+	PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals, PyObject *fromlist,
+	int level, char submodule);
 
 #define PyImport_ImportModuleEx(n, g, l, f) \
 	PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(n, g, l, f, -1)
diff -burp Python-2.6/Python/bltinmodule.c Python-2.6-issue4438/Python/bltinmodule.c
--- Python-2.6/Python/bltinmodule.c	2008-08-18 05:01:21.000000000 +0300
+++ Python-2.6-issue4438/Python/bltinmodule.c	2008-11-26 15:34:20.000000000 +0200
@@ -35,18 +35,20 @@ static PyObject *
 builtin___import__(PyObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
 {
 	static char *kwlist[] = {"name", "globals", "locals", "fromlist",
-				 "level", 0};
+				 "level", "submodule", 0};
 	char *name;
 	PyObject *globals = NULL;
 	PyObject *locals = NULL;
 	PyObject *fromlist = NULL;
 	int level = -1;
+	char submodule = 0;
 
-	if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwds, "s|OOOi:__import__",
-			kwlist, &name, &globals, &locals, &fromlist, &level))
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwds, "s|OOOib:__import__",
+			kwlist, &name, &globals, &locals, &fromlist, &level,
+			&submodule))
 		return NULL;
 	return PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(name, globals, locals,
-					  fromlist, level);
+					  fromlist, level, submodule);
 }
 
 PyDoc_STRVAR(import_doc,
diff -burp Python-2.6/Python/codecs.c Python-2.6-issue4438/Python/codecs.c
--- Python-2.6/Python/codecs.c	2008-06-09 07:58:54.000000000 +0300
+++ Python-2.6-issue4438/Python/codecs.c	2008-11-26 15:43:44.000000000 +0200
@@ -842,7 +842,7 @@ static int _PyCodecRegistry_Init(void)
 	interp->codec_error_registry == NULL)
 	Py_FatalError("can't initialize codec registry");
 
-    mod = PyImport_ImportModuleLevel("encodings", NULL, NULL, NULL, 0);
+    mod = PyImport_ImportModuleLevel("encodings", NULL, NULL, NULL, 0, 0);
     if (mod == NULL) {
 	if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_ImportError)) {
 	    /* Ignore ImportErrors... this is done so that
diff -burp Python-2.6/Python/import.c Python-2.6-issue4438/Python/import.c
--- Python-2.6/Python/import.c	2008-09-01 17:18:30.000000000 +0300
+++ Python-2.6-issue4438/Python/import.c	2008-11-26 15:46:26.000000000 +0200
@@ -2064,7 +2064,7 @@ static PyObject * import_submodule(PyObj
 
 static PyObject *
 import_module_level(char *name, PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals,
-		    PyObject *fromlist, int level)
+		    PyObject *fromlist, int level, char submodule)
 {
 	char buf[MAXPATHLEN+1];
 	Py_ssize_t buflen = 0;
@@ -2115,13 +2115,13 @@ import_module_level(char *name, PyObject
 			fromlist = NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (fromlist == NULL) {
+	if (fromlist == NULL && !submodule) {
 		Py_DECREF(tail);
 		return head;
 	}
 
 	Py_DECREF(head);
-	if (!ensure_fromlist(tail, fromlist, buf, buflen, 0)) {
+	if (!submodule && !ensure_fromlist(tail, fromlist, buf, buflen, 0)) {
 		Py_DECREF(tail);
 		return NULL;
 	}
@@ -2131,11 +2131,12 @@ import_module_level(char *name, PyObject
 
 PyObject *
 PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(char *name, PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals,
-			 PyObject *fromlist, int level)
+			 PyObject *fromlist, int level, char submodule)
 {
 	PyObject *result;
 	lock_import();
-	result = import_module_level(name, globals, locals, fromlist, level);
+	result = import_module_level(name, globals, locals, fromlist, level,
+			submodule);
 	if (unlock_import() < 0) {
 		Py_XDECREF(result);
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError,
@@ -2701,7 +2702,7 @@ PyImport_Import(PyObject *module_name)
 		PyErr_Clear();
 
 		builtins = PyImport_ImportModuleLevel("__builtin__",
-						      NULL, NULL, NULL, 0);
+						      NULL, NULL, NULL, 0, 0);
 		if (builtins == NULL)
 			return NULL;
 		globals = Py_BuildValue("{OO}", builtins_str, builtins);