diff --git a/regcore/db/__init__.py b/regcore/db/__init__.py
index 3c67457..26e0e7c 100644
--- a/regcore/db/__init__.py
+++ b/regcore/db/__init__.py
@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@
 the associated backend class instead (e.g. for Django, elastic search, or
 the splitter backend)."""
 
-import sys
+from importlib import import_module
 
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.utils.importlib import import_module
 
 
 def _select(key):
diff --git a/regcore/settings/base.py b/regcore/settings/base.py
index 23a1edc..3df60ce 100644
--- a/regcore/settings/base.py
+++ b/regcore/settings/base.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     'regcore_read',
     'regcore_write',
 ]
+MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = []
 
 SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY', get_random_string(50))