diff --git a/vllm/utils.py b/vllm/utils.py
index b517146550a6f..54636a4920bf6 100644
--- a/vllm/utils.py
+++ b/vllm/utils.py
@@ -141,7 +141,11 @@ def is_neuron() -> bool:
 
 @lru_cache(maxsize=None)
 def is_tpu() -> bool:
-    return importlib.util.find_spec("libtpu") is not None
+    try:
+        import libtpu
+    except ImportError:
+        libtpu = None
+    return libtpu is not None
 
 
 @lru_cache(maxsize=None)