SeleniumHQ/selenium · error · AttributeError

module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}

Error message

module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}

What it means

Raised as AttributeError by the module-level __getattr__ in selenium.webdriver.ie when an attribute name is not one of the lazily-loaded submodules ('options', 'service', 'webdriver'). This is Python's standard lazy import mechanism — the IE driver modules are only imported on first access to reduce import overhead, and accessing any other name raises a standard AttributeError just as if the attribute never existed.

Source

Thrown at py/selenium/webdriver/ie/__init__.py:28

#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
# specific language governing permissions and limitations
# under the License.

import importlib

_LAZY_SUBMODULES = ["options", "service", "webdriver"]


def __getattr__(name):
    if name in _LAZY_SUBMODULES:
        module = importlib.import_module(f".{name}", __name__)
        globals()[name] = module
        return module
    raise AttributeError(f"module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}")


def __dir__():
    return sorted(_LAZY_SUBMODULES)

View on GitHub (pinned to aa36b38e69)

Solutions

1. Import from the correct submodule: from selenium.webdriver.ie.webdriver import WebDriver
2. Check the available names with dir(selenium.webdriver.ie) which returns ['options', 'service', 'webdriver']
3. Use the correct attribute name from the _LAZY_SUBMODULES list

Example fix

// before
from selenium.webdriver import ie
driver = ie.driver  # AttributeError

// after
from selenium.webdriver.ie.webdriver import WebDriver
driver = WebDriver()

import selenium.webdriver.ie as ie
if 'webdriver' in dir(ie):
    from selenium.webdriver.ie.webdriver import WebDriver

def is_lazy_submodule(name: str) -> bool:
    return name in ('options', 'service', 'webdriver')

try:
    from selenium.webdriver.ie import webdriver
except AttributeError:
    from selenium.webdriver.ie.webdriver import WebDriver

When it happens

Trigger: Accessing selenium.webdriver.ie.SomeName where SomeName is not 'options', 'service', or 'webdriver'. This is standard Python attribute access behavior for a module using PEP 562 lazy loading.

Common situations: Typing a wrong module name (e.g., selenium.webdriver.ie.driver instead of selenium.webdriver.ie.webdriver). Trying to import a class directly from the package root instead of from its submodule. IDE auto-complete suggesting a non-existent name.

Related errors

• module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}
• module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}
• module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}
• module 'selenium.webdriver' has no attribute {name!r}
• module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}

AI-assisted analysis of SeleniumHQ/selenium@aa36b38e69 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3ff3a5ccaa7c26f3. Report an issue: GitHub.