diff --git a/dvc/external_repo.py b/dvc/external_repo.py
index 7b9288751..145dcdc47 100644
--- a/dvc/external_repo.py
+++ b/dvc/external_repo.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from schema import Optional
 from dvc.config import Config
 from dvc.cache import CacheConfig
 from dvc.exceptions import DvcException
-from dvc.utils.compat import makedirs
+from dvc.utils.compat import makedirs, str
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)