diff --git a/bigchaindb/utils.py b/bigchaindb/utils.py
index 1ef8a9c5..ba781214 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/utils.py
@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@ import contextlib
 import threading
 import queue
 import multiprocessing as mp
+import json
 
 import setproctitle
 
+from bigchaindb.tendermint_utils import key_from_base64
+from bigchaindb.common.crypto import key_pair_from_ed25519_key
+
 
 class ProcessGroup(object):
 
@@ -31,7 +35,8 @@ class ProcessGroup(object):
 class Process(mp.Process):
     """Wrapper around multiprocessing.Process that uses
     setproctitle to set the name of the process when running
-    the target task."""
+    the target task.
+    """
 
     def run(self):
         setproctitle.setproctitle(self.name)
@@ -171,9 +176,6 @@ class Lazy:
 
 # Load Tendermint's public and private key from the file path
 def load_node_key(path):
-    import json
-    from bigchaindb.tendermint_utils import key_from_base64
-    from bigchaindb.common.crypto import key_pair_from_ed25519_key
     with open(path) as json_data:
         priv_validator = json.load(json_data)
         priv_key = priv_validator['priv_key']['value']