diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index a66c79412..022c448dd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Bug fixes / Maintenance
 - don't print empty lines when showing junitxml-filename
 - fix py.code.compile(source) to generate unique filenames
 - add optional boolean ignore_errors parameter to py.path.local.remove
+- fix terminal writing on win32/python2.4 
 
 Changes between 1.3.0 and 1.3.1
 ==================================================
diff --git a/py/_io/terminalwriter.py b/py/_io/terminalwriter.py
index 4a98ef69f..dc2ccf511 100644
--- a/py/_io/terminalwriter.py
+++ b/py/_io/terminalwriter.py
@@ -226,6 +226,8 @@ class WriteFile(object):
 
 if win32_and_ctypes:
     TerminalWriter = Win32ConsoleWriter
+    import ctypes
+    from ctypes import wintypes
 
     # ctypes access to the Windows console
     STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE = -11
@@ -242,17 +244,13 @@ if win32_and_ctypes:
     BACKGROUND_INTENSITY = 0x0080 # background color is intensified.
 
     def GetStdHandle(kind):
-        import ctypes
         return ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetStdHandle(kind)
 
     def SetConsoleTextAttribute(handle, attr):
-        import ctypes
         ctypes.windll.kernel32.SetConsoleTextAttribute(
             handle, attr)
 
     def _getdimensions():
-        import ctypes
-        from ctypes import wintypes
 
         SHORT = ctypes.c_short
         class COORD(ctypes.Structure):