diff --git a/dvc/logger.py b/dvc/logger.py
index 83d11054d..8e11f0e62 100644
--- a/dvc/logger.py
+++ b/dvc/logger.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-from dvc.utils.compat import str, StringIO
+from dvc.utils.compat import str, StringIO, RecursionError
 from dvc.progress import Tqdm
 
 import logging
@@ -10,11 +10,6 @@ import logging.handlers
 import logging.config
 import colorama
 
-try:  # https://docs.python.org/3/library/exceptions.html#RecursionError
-    RecursionError
-except NameError:  # Python < 3.5
-    RecursionError = RuntimeError
-
 
 class LoggingException(Exception):
     def __init__(self, record):
diff --git a/dvc/utils/compat.py b/dvc/utils/compat.py
index 5b17c7708..4b2f2a25b 100644
--- a/dvc/utils/compat.py
+++ b/dvc/utils/compat.py
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ is_py3 = _ver[0] == 3
 # simplified version of ipython_genutils/encoding.py
 DEFAULT_ENCODING = sys.getdefaultencoding()
 
+# https://docs.python.org/3/library/exceptions.html#RecursionError
+if _ver[:2] < (3, 5):
+    RecursionError = RuntimeError
+
 
 def no_code(x, encoding=None):
     return x