ImportError: lxml.html.clean module is now a separate project lxml_html_clean

lxml 5.2 removed lxml.html.clean, and requests-html still reaches for it, so the import raises this explicit error. Install the split-out package with python -m pip install lxml_html_clean and the import works. This is the officially blessed migration path, not a hack.

The error

ImportError: lxml.html.clean module is now a separate project lxml_html_clean

Fix it

1. Install the split-out package

python -m pip install lxml_html_clean

Expected: Successfully installed lxml_html_clean-....

2. Confirm

python -c "from requests_html import HTMLSession; print('ok')"

Expected: prints ok.

3. Alternative: downgrade lxml below the split

python -m pip install 'lxml<5.2'

Expected: the old lxml.html.clean path exists again. Prefer step 1; old lxml forfeits security fixes.

When this applies

• the ImportError text names the lxmlhtmlclean split
• importing requests-html, facebook-scraper, or similar fails right after an lxml upgrade
• you are on lxml 5.2+

When it does NOT apply

• ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'lxml_html_clean' is the same split seen as a missing module (same install fixes it)
• No module named 'lxml' means lxml itself is absent

Compatibility

lxml 5.2.0+. The shim package lxmlhtmlclean tracks lxml 5.x. requests-html 0.10.0 is the version most people hit this on.

Why it happens

The lxml maintainers extracted the HTML-cleaning code into its own distribution because it was a repeated CVE source. lxml 5.2 raises this descriptive ImportError (instead of a bare ModuleNotFoundError) from a stub, precisely to tell you the new package name. Installing it restores the exact module the old code imports.

Edge cases

• If pip installs the shim but the error persists, you have two lxml installs (e.g. system and venv). The python -m pip spelling targets the right one.
• facebook-scraper and pymoviedb hit the identical error through the same lxml upgrade; the fix is the same single install.