diff --git a/src/xpra/net/net_util.py b/src/xpra/net/net_util.py
index bade73a760..61be11a5b3 100755
--- a/src/xpra/net/net_util.py
+++ b/src/xpra/net/net_util.py
@@ -152,9 +152,6 @@ def if_indextoname(index):
 			return _libc.if_indextoname(c_uint(index), s)
 
 
-
-
-
 def main():
 	from xpra.platform import init, clean
 	try:
diff --git a/src/xpra/net/protocol.py b/src/xpra/net/protocol.py
index a43d76bfd8..ed767cbc9b 100644
--- a/src/xpra/net/protocol.py
+++ b/src/xpra/net/protocol.py
@@ -24,23 +24,22 @@
 log = Logger("network", "protocol")
 debug = log.debug
 from xpra.os_util import Queue, strtobytes, get_hex_uuid
-from xpra.daemon_thread import make_daemon_thread
-from xpra.simple_stats import std_unit, std_unit_dec
+from xpra.util import repr_ellipsized
 from xpra.net.bytestreams import ABORT
-from xpra.os_util import builtins
-_memoryview = builtins.__dict__.get("memoryview")
+
 
 try:
     from Crypto.Cipher import AES
     from Crypto.Protocol.KDF import PBKDF2
 except Exception, e:
-    AES = None
-    PBKDF2 = None
+    AES, PBKDF2 = None, None
     log("pycrypto is missing: %s", e)
 
 
 from zlib import compress, decompress
 try:
+    from xpra.os_util import builtins
+    _memoryview = builtins.__dict__.get("memoryview")
     from lz4 import LZ4_compress, LZ4_uncompress        #@UnresolvedImport
     has_lz4 = True
     def lz4_compress(packet, level):
@@ -195,19 +194,6 @@ def get_network_caps(legacy=True):
     return caps
 
 
-def repr_ellipsized(obj, limit=100):
-    if isinstance(obj, str) and len(obj) > limit:
-        try:
-            s = repr(obj[:limit])
-            if len(obj)>limit:
-                s += "..."
-            return s
-        except:
-            return binascii.hexlify(obj[:limit])
-    else:
-        return repr(obj)
-
-
 class ConnectionClosedException(Exception):
     pass
 
@@ -295,6 +281,7 @@ def __init__(self, scheduler, conn, process_packet_cb, get_packet_cb=None):
         self.cipher_out_name = None
         self.cipher_out_block_size = 0
         self._write_lock = Lock()
+        from xpra.daemon_thread import make_daemon_thread
         self._write_thread = make_daemon_thread(self._write_thread_loop, "write")
         self._read_thread = make_daemon_thread(self._read_thread_loop, "read")
         self._read_parser_thread = make_daemon_thread(self._read_parse_thread_loop, "parse")
@@ -992,6 +979,7 @@ def close(self):
                     #no data sent or received, skip logging of stats:
                     self._log_stats = False
                 if self._log_stats:
+                    from xpra.simple_stats import std_unit, std_unit_dec
                     log.info("connection closed after %s packets received (%s bytes) and %s packets sent (%s bytes)",
                          std_unit(self.input_packetcount), std_unit_dec(self._conn.input_bytecount),
                          std_unit(self.output_packetcount), std_unit_dec(self._conn.output_bytecount)
diff --git a/src/xpra/server/server_core.py b/src/xpra/server/server_core.py
index 5159762ee7..346fd6057a 100644
--- a/src/xpra/server/server_core.py
+++ b/src/xpra/server/server_core.py
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@
 from xpra.platform import set_application_name
 from xpra.os_util import load_binary_file, get_machine_id, get_user_uuid, SIGNAMES
 from xpra.version_util import version_compat_check, get_version_info, get_platform_info, get_host_info, local_version, mk
-from xpra.net.protocol import Protocol, use_lz4, use_rencode, use_yaml, new_cipher_caps, get_network_caps, repr_ellipsized
+from xpra.net.protocol import Protocol, use_lz4, use_rencode, use_yaml, new_cipher_caps, get_network_caps
 from xpra.server.background_worker import stop_worker
 from xpra.daemon_thread import make_daemon_thread
 from xpra.server.proxy import XpraProxy
-from xpra.util import typedict
+from xpra.util import typedict, repr_ellipsized
 
 
 
diff --git a/src/xpra/util.py b/src/xpra/util.py
index 6d88e77e6c..f2c67dd957 100644
--- a/src/xpra/util.py
+++ b/src/xpra/util.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 # later version. See the file COPYING for details.
 
 import os
+import binascii
 from xpra.os_util import strtobytes, bytestostr
 import traceback
 import threading
@@ -318,6 +319,19 @@ def print_leaks():
     return print_leaks
 
 
+def repr_ellipsized(obj, limit=100):
+    if isinstance(obj, str) and len(obj) > limit:
+        try:
+            s = repr(obj[:limit])
+            if len(obj)>limit:
+                s += "..."
+            return s
+        except:
+            return binascii.hexlify(obj[:limit])
+    else:
+        return repr(obj)
+
+
 def pver(v):
     #print for lists with version numbers, or CSV strings
     if type(v) in (list, tuple):