python · brettcannon · Dec 10, 2025 · Dec 2, 2025 · Dec 2, 2025 · Dec 2, 2025
@@ -320,6 +320,9 @@ ABC hierarchy::
     .. versionchanged:: 3.7
        Introduced the optional :meth:`get_resource_reader` method.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.15
+      Removed the ``load_module()`` method.
+
     .. method:: create_module(spec)
 
        A method that returns the module object to use when
@@ -344,47 +347,6 @@ ABC hierarchy::
        .. versionchanged:: 3.6
           :meth:`create_module` must also be defined.
 
-    .. method:: load_module(fullname)
-
-        A legacy method for loading a module.  If the module cannot be
-        loaded, :exc:`ImportError` is raised, otherwise the loaded module is
-        returned.
-
-        If the requested module already exists in :data:`sys.modules`, that
-        module should be used and reloaded.
-        Otherwise the loader should create a new module and insert it into
-        :data:`sys.modules` before any loading begins, to prevent recursion
-        from the import.  If the loader inserted a module and the load fails, it
-        must be removed by the loader from :data:`sys.modules`; modules already
-        in :data:`sys.modules` before the loader began execution should be left
-        alone.
-
-        The loader should set several attributes on the module
-        (note that some of these attributes can change when a module is
-        reloaded):
-
-        - :attr:`module.__name__`
-        - :attr:`module.__file__`
-        - :attr:`module.__cached__` *(deprecated)*
-        - :attr:`module.__path__`
-        - :attr:`module.__package__` *(deprecated)*
-        - :attr:`module.__loader__` *(deprecated)*
-
-        When :meth:`exec_module` is available then backwards-compatible
-        functionality is provided.
-
-        .. versionchanged:: 3.4
-           Raise :exc:`ImportError` when called instead of
-           :exc:`NotImplementedError`.  Functionality provided when
-           :meth:`exec_module` is available.
-
-        .. deprecated-removed:: 3.4 3.15
-           The recommended API for loading a module is :meth:`exec_module`
-           (and :meth:`create_module`).  Loaders should implement it instead of
-           :meth:`load_module`.  The import machinery takes care of all the
-           other responsibilities of :meth:`load_module` when
-           :meth:`exec_module` is implemented.
-
 
 .. class:: ResourceLoader
 
@@ -490,13 +452,6 @@ ABC hierarchy::
 
        .. versionadded:: 3.4
 
-    .. method:: load_module(fullname)
-
-       Implementation of :meth:`Loader.load_module`.
-
-       .. deprecated-removed:: 3.4 3.15
-          use :meth:`exec_module` instead.
-
 
 .. class:: ExecutionLoader
 
@@ -530,6 +485,9 @@ ABC hierarchy::
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.3
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.15
+      Removed the ``load_module()`` method.
+
    .. attribute:: name
 
       The name of the module the loader can handle.
@@ -538,13 +496,6 @@ ABC hierarchy::
 
       Path to the file of the module.
 
-   .. method:: load_module(fullname)
-
-      Calls super's ``load_module()``.
-
-      .. deprecated-removed:: 3.4 3.15
-         Use :meth:`Loader.exec_module` instead.
-
    .. method:: get_filename(fullname)
       :abstractmethod:
 
@@ -576,6 +527,9 @@ ABC hierarchy::
     optimization to speed up loading by removing the parsing step of Python's
     compiler, and so no bytecode-specific API is exposed.
 
+    .. versionchanged:: 3.15
+       Removed the ``load_module()`` method.
+
     .. method:: path_stats(path)
 
         Optional abstract method which returns a :class:`dict` containing
@@ -629,13 +583,6 @@ ABC hierarchy::
 
        .. versionadded:: 3.4
 
-    .. method:: load_module(fullname)
-
-       Concrete implementation of :meth:`Loader.load_module`.
-
-       .. deprecated-removed:: 3.4 3.15
-          Use :meth:`exec_module` instead.
-
     .. method:: get_source(fullname)
 
         Concrete implementation of :meth:`InspectLoader.get_source`.
@@ -1059,6 +1006,9 @@ find and load modules.
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.3
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.15
+      Removed the ``load_module()`` method.
+
    .. attribute:: name
 
       The name of the module that this loader will handle.
@@ -1079,15 +1029,6 @@ find and load modules.
 
       Concrete implementation of :meth:`importlib.abc.SourceLoader.set_data`.
 
-   .. method:: load_module(name=None)
-
-      Concrete implementation of :meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.load_module` where
-      specifying the name of the module to load is optional.
-
-      .. deprecated-removed:: 3.6 3.15
-
-         Use :meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.exec_module` instead.
-
 
 .. class:: SourcelessFileLoader(fullname, path)
 
@@ -1101,6 +1042,9 @@ find and load modules.
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.3
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.15
+      Removed the ``load_module()`` method.
+
    .. attribute:: name
 
       The name of the module the loader will handle.
@@ -1122,15 +1066,6 @@ find and load modules.
       Returns ``None`` as bytecode files have no source when this loader is
       used.
 
-   .. method:: load_module(name=None)
-
-   Concrete implementation of :meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.load_module` where
-   specifying the name of the module to load is optional.
-
-   .. deprecated-removed:: 3.6 3.15
-
-      Use :meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.exec_module` instead.
-
 
 .. class:: ExtensionFileLoader(fullname, path)
 

@@ -359,21 +359,16 @@ of what happens during the loading portion of import::
     if spec.loader is None:
         # unsupported
         raise ImportError
-    if spec.origin is None and spec.submodule_search_locations is not None:
-        # namespace package
-        sys.modules[spec.name] = module
-    elif not hasattr(spec.loader, 'exec_module'):
-        module = spec.loader.load_module(spec.name)
-    else:
-        sys.modules[spec.name] = module
+
+    sys.modules[spec.name] = module
+    try:
+        spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+    except BaseException:
         try:
-            spec.loader.exec_module(module)
-        except BaseException:
-            try:
-                del sys.modules[spec.name]
-            except KeyError:
-                pass
-            raise
+            del sys.modules[spec.name]
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+        raise
     return sys.modules[spec.name]
 
 Note the following details:
@@ -408,7 +403,10 @@ Note the following details:
 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
    The import system has taken over the boilerplate responsibilities of
    loaders.  These were previously performed by the
-   :meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.load_module` method.
+   ``importlib.abc.Loader.load_module`` method.
+
+.. versionchanged:: 3.15
+    The ``load_module`` method is no longer used.
 
 Loaders
 -------
@@ -443,7 +441,7 @@ import machinery will create the new module itself.
    The :meth:`~importlib.abc.Loader.create_module` method of loaders.
 
 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
-   The :meth:`~importlib.abc.Loader.load_module` method was replaced by
+   The ``importlib.abc.Loader.load_module`` method was replaced by
    :meth:`~importlib.abc.Loader.exec_module` and the import
    machinery assumed all the boilerplate responsibilities of loading.
 

@@ -1622,7 +1622,7 @@ Deprecated
   compatibility. Specifically,
   :meth:`!find_loader`/:meth:`!find_module`
   (superseded by :meth:`~importlib.abc.MetaPathFinder.find_spec`),
-  :meth:`~importlib.abc.Loader.load_module`
+  ``importlib.abc.Loader.load_module``
   (superseded by :meth:`~importlib.abc.Loader.exec_module`),
   :meth:`!module_repr` (which the import system
   takes care of for you), the ``__package__`` attribute
@@ -1652,7 +1652,7 @@ Deprecated
   preference for :meth:`~zipimport.zipimporter.exec_module`.
   (Contributed by Brett Cannon in :issue:`26131`.)
 
-* The use of :meth:`~importlib.abc.Loader.load_module` by the import
+* The use of ``importlib.abc.Loader.load_module`` by the import
   system now triggers an :exc:`ImportWarning` as
   :meth:`~importlib.abc.Loader.exec_module` is preferred.
   (Contributed by Brett Cannon in :issue:`26131`.)

@@ -2086,10 +2086,10 @@ Deprecations in the Python API
   :meth:`!importlib.abc.PathEntryFinder.find_loader` and
   :meth:`!find_module` are replaced by
   :meth:`importlib.abc.PathEntryFinder.find_spec`; all of the :samp:`{xxx}Loader` ABC
-  ``load_module`` methods (:meth:`!importlib.abc.Loader.load_module`,
-  :meth:`!importlib.abc.InspectLoader.load_module`,
-  :meth:`!importlib.abc.FileLoader.load_module`,
-  :meth:`!importlib.abc.SourceLoader.load_module`) should no longer be
+  ``load_module`` methods (``importlib.abc.Loader.load_module``,
+  ``importlib.abc.InspectLoader.load_module``,
+  ``importlib.abc.FileLoader.load_module``,
+  ``importlib.abc.SourceLoader.load_module``) should no longer be
   implemented, instead loaders should implement an
   ``exec_module`` method
   (:meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.exec_module`,

@@ -2006,10 +2006,10 @@ deprecated.
 importlib
 ~~~~~~~~~
 
-The :meth:`importlib.machinery.SourceFileLoader.load_module` and
-:meth:`importlib.machinery.SourcelessFileLoader.load_module` methods
+The ``importlib.machinery.SourceFileLoader.load_module`` and
+``importlib.machinery.SourcelessFileLoader.load_module`` methods
 are now deprecated. They were the only remaining implementations of
-:meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.load_module` in :mod:`importlib` that had not
+``importlib.abc.Loader.load_module`` in :mod:`importlib` that had not
 been deprecated in previous versions of Python in favour of
 :meth:`importlib.abc.Loader.exec_module`.
 

@@ -19,21 +19,3 @@ def create_module(self, spec):
 
     # We don't define exec_module() here since that would break
     # hasattr checks we do to support backward compatibility.
-
-    def load_module(self, fullname):
-        """Return the loaded module.
-
-        The module must be added to sys.modules and have import-related
-        attributes set properly.  The fullname is a str.
-
-        ImportError is raised on failure.
-
-        This method is deprecated in favor of loader.exec_module(). If
-        exec_module() exists then it is used to provide a backwards-compatible
-        functionality for this method.
-
-        """
-        if not hasattr(self, 'exec_module'):
-            raise ImportError
-        # Warning implemented in _load_module_shim().
-        return _bootstrap._load_module_shim(self, fullname)