diff --git a/MySQLdb/__init__.py b/MySQLdb/__init__.py
index b567363b..2851b9bc 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/__init__.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/__init__.py
@@ -13,12 +13,11 @@
 MySQLdb.converters module.
 """
 
-try:
-    from MySQLdb.release import version_info
-    from . import _mysql
+# Check if the version of _mysql matches the version of MySQLdb.
+from MySQLdb.release import version_info
+from . import _mysql
 
-    assert version_info == _mysql.version_info
-except Exception:
+if version_info != _mysql.version_info:
     raise ImportError(
         "this is MySQLdb version {}, but _mysql is version {!r}\n_mysql: {!r}".format(
             version_info, _mysql.version_info, _mysql.__file__