diff -burp Python-2.6/Include/import.h Python-2.6-imp_import_module/Include/import.h
--- Python-2.6/Include/import.h	2008-01-04 00:16:32.000000000 +0200
+++ Python-2.6-imp_import_module/Include/import.h	2008-11-26 16:29:53.000000000 +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-imp_import_module/Python/bltinmodule.c
--- Python-2.6/Python/bltinmodule.c	2008-08-18 05:01:21.000000000 +0300
+++ Python-2.6-imp_import_module/Python/bltinmodule.c	2008-11-28 19:29:01.000000000 +0200
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ builtin___import__(PyObject *self, PyObj
 			kwlist, &name, &globals, &locals, &fromlist, &level))
 		return NULL;
 	return PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(name, globals, locals,
-					  fromlist, level);
+					  fromlist, level, 0);
 }
 
 PyDoc_STRVAR(import_doc,
diff -burp Python-2.6/Python/codecs.c Python-2.6-imp_import_module/Python/codecs.c
--- Python-2.6/Python/codecs.c	2008-06-09 07:58:54.000000000 +0300
+++ Python-2.6-imp_import_module/Python/codecs.c	2008-11-26 16:29:53.000000000 +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-imp_import_module/Python/import.c
--- Python-2.6/Python/import.c	2008-09-01 17:18:30.000000000 +0300
+++ Python-2.6-imp_import_module/Python/import.c	2008-11-28 20:45:22.000000000 +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);
@@ -3039,6 +3040,22 @@ imp_reload(PyObject *self, PyObject *v)
 	return PyImport_ReloadModule(v);
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+imp_import_module(PyObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
+{
+	/* do we need globals? */
+	static char *kwlist[] = {"name", "globals", "level", 0};
+
+	char *name;
+	PyObject *globals = NULL;
+	int level = -1;
+
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwds, "s|Oi:import_module",
+			kwlist, &name, &globals, &level))
+		return NULL;
+
+	return PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(name, globals, NULL, NULL, level, 1);
+}
 
 /* Doc strings */
 
@@ -3094,6 +3111,12 @@ PyDoc_STRVAR(doc_release_lock,
 Release the interpreter's import lock.\n\
 On platforms without threads, this function does nothing.");
 
+PyDoc_STRVAR(doc_import_module,
+"import_module(name, globals, level) -> module\n\
+Import the tail module, given dotted module hierarchy in name.\n\
+globals only determines the package context and is not modified.\n\
+level specifies whether to use absolute or relative imports.");
+
 static PyMethodDef imp_methods[] = {
 	{"reload",	 imp_reload,	   METH_O,	 doc_reload},
 	{"find_module",	 imp_find_module,  METH_VARARGS, doc_find_module},
@@ -3104,6 +3127,7 @@ static PyMethodDef imp_methods[] = {
 	{"lock_held",	 imp_lock_held,	   METH_NOARGS,  doc_lock_held},
 	{"acquire_lock", imp_acquire_lock, METH_NOARGS,  doc_acquire_lock},
 	{"release_lock", imp_release_lock, METH_NOARGS,  doc_release_lock},
+	{"import_module", imp_import_module, METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS, doc_import_module},
 	/* The rest are obsolete */
 	{"get_frozen_object",	imp_get_frozen_object,	METH_VARARGS},
 	{"init_builtin",	imp_init_builtin,	METH_VARARGS},