ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.util' [Fix]

# ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.util'

The error "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.util'" occurs when your Ubuntu machine doesn't have the distutils module installed.

To solve the error, run the sudo apt-get install python3-distutils command to install the distutils module.

The three common errors that are caused by not having the distutils module installed alongside Python are:

• "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.util'".
• "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.cmd'".
• "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.core'".

Open your terminal and run the following commands.

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sudo apt update

sudo apt install python3-distutils

sudo apt install python3-apt

# 👇️ For Python 3.10 (scoped to specific version)
sudo apt install python3.10-distutils

# 👇️ For Python 3.11
sudo apt install python3.11-distutils

The distutils module is a part of the Python standard library so it has to be installed on your Ubuntu machine to be able to use Python.

If you get the "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pip'", check out my other article with instructions on how to install pip.

If the error is not resolved, try reinstalling the distutils package.

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sudo apt-get install --reinstall python3-distutils

# 👇️ For Python 3.10
sudo apt-get install --reinstall python3.10-distutils

# 👇️ For Python 3.11
sudo apt-get install --reinstall python3.11-distutils

If that didn't help, add the deadsnakes PPA and install a specific version of distutils.

You can view your Python version by issuing the python --version command.

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python --version

For example, my Python version is 3.10.4, so I have to issue the sudo apt-get install python3.10-distutils command.

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa

sudo apt update

sudo apt-get install python3.10-distutils

sudo apt-get install python3.10-apt

If the suggestion didn't help try reinstalling the distutils package scoped to your specific Python version.

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sudo apt-get install --reinstall python3.10-distutils

Make sure to update the version in the command according to the output of the python --version command.

If you get any errors related to pip, install pip by following the instructions in my ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pip' in Python article.