diff --git a/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/nbextensions/toc2/toc2.js b/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/nbextensions/toc2/toc2.js
index 2eed6aacf..f39a1e597 100644
--- a/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/nbextensions/toc2/toc2.js
+++ b/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/nbextensions/toc2/toc2.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
     var IPython;
     var liveNotebook = false;
+
     if (require.specified('base/js/namespace')) {
         require(['base/js/namespace'], function(Jupyter_mod) {
             liveNotebook = true;
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@
         });
     }
 
+
 function incr_lbl(ary, h_idx) { //increment heading label  w/ h_idx (zero based)
     ary[h_idx]++;
     for (var j = h_idx + 1; j < ary.length; j++) { ary[j] = 0; }
@@ -678,3 +680,12 @@ var table_of_contents = function (cfg,st) {
         toggle_toc: toggle_toc,
     };
 });
+
+if (!liveNotebook) {
+    // export main function for backwards compatibility
+    function table_of_contents(cfg, st) {
+        return require(['nbextensions/toc2/toc2'], function(toc2) {
+            return toc2.table_of_contents(cfg, st);
+        });
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/templates/toc2.tpl b/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/templates/toc2.tpl
index cfdfb8796..7bf05c633 100644
--- a/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/templates/toc2.tpl
+++ b/src/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/templates/toc2.tpl
@@ -46,15 +46,9 @@ $( document ).ready(function(){
             st.toc_index=0;
 
             // fire the main function with these parameters
-
-            try { // new version of toc2 with amd module
-                  require(['nbextensions/toc2/toc2'], function (toc2) {
-                        toc2.table_of_contents(cfg, st);
-                        });
-            }
-            catch(e) { // for backward compatibility
-               table_of_contents(cfg, st);   
-            }
+            require(['nbextensions/toc2/toc2'], function (toc2) {
+                toc2.table_of_contents(cfg, st);
+            });
     });
 </script>