diff --git a/Lib/importlib/__init__.py b/Lib/importlib/__init__.py
--- a/Lib/importlib/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/__init__.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
             finder.invalidate_caches()
 
 
-def find_spec(name, path=None):
+def find_spec(name, *, parent_path=None):
     """Return the spec for the specified module.
 
     First, sys.modules is checked to see if the module was already imported. If
@@ -56,12 +56,23 @@
     value of 'path' given to the finders. None is returned if no spec could
     be found.
 
-    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 spec.
+    If the named module is a submodule, its parent is first imported.
+    This may be avoided by passing in parent_path as a list or other
+    sequence.
 
     """
     if name not in sys.modules:
+        if name.startswith('.'):
+            raise ImportError('relative module name {!r} not supported'
+                              .format(name))
+        path = parent_path
+        if path is None:
+            parent_name = name.rpartition('.')[0]
+            if parent_name:
+                parent = import_module(parent_name)
+                path = getattr(parent, '__path__', None)
+                if path is None:
+                    return None
         return _bootstrap._find_spec(name, path)
     else:
         module = sys.modules[name]