diff --git a/fedn/cli/combiner_cmd.py b/fedn/cli/combiner_cmd.py
index 14d8c2d99..3e7753e80 100644
--- a/fedn/cli/combiner_cmd.py
+++ b/fedn/cli/combiner_cmd.py
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 import click
 import requests
 
-from fedn.network.combiner.combiner import Combiner
-
 from .main import main
 from .shared import CONTROLLER_DEFAULTS, apply_config, get_api_url, get_token, print_response
 
@@ -59,6 +57,8 @@ def start_cmd(ctx, discoverhost, discoverport, token, name, host, port, fqdn, se
         click.echo(f"\nCombiner configuration loaded from file: {init}")
         click.echo("Values set in file override defaults and command line arguments...\n")
 
+    from fedn.network.combiner.combiner import Combiner
+
     combiner = Combiner(config)
     combiner.run()