diff --git a/napalm/__init__.py b/napalm/__init__.py
index 22d46d32d..3ad6e7adc 100644
--- a/napalm/__init__.py
+++ b/napalm/__init__.py
@@ -3,14 +3,22 @@
 from napalm.base import get_network_driver
 from napalm._SUPPORTED_DRIVERS import SUPPORTED_DRIVERS
 
+# Load constituent packages to fix threading deadlock on get_network_driver()
+import napalm.eos
+import napalm.ios
+import napalm.iosxr
+import napalm.junos
+import napalm.nxos
+import napalm.nxos_ssh
+import napalm.pyIOSXR
+import napalm.nxapi_plumbing  # noqa
+
 # Verify Python Version that is running
 try:
-    if not (sys.version_info.major == 2 and sys.version_info.minor == 7) and not (
-        sys.version_info.major == 3
-    ):
-        raise RuntimeError("NAPALM requires Python 2.7 or Python3")
+    if not (sys.version_info.major == 3 and sys.version_info.minor >= 6):
+        raise RuntimeError("NAPALM requires Python 3.6 or greater")
 except AttributeError:
-    raise RuntimeError("NAPALM requires Python 2.7 or Python3")
+    raise RuntimeError("NAPALM requires Python 3.6 or greater")
 
 try:
     __version__ = pkg_resources.get_distribution("napalm").version