diff --git a/MySQLdb/__init__.py b/MySQLdb/__init__.py
index a4a9da94..ad2057bc 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/__init__.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/__init__.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 from MySQLdb.release import __version__, version_info, __author__
 
-import _mysql
+from . import _mysql
 
 if version_info != _mysql.version_info:
     raise ImportError("this is MySQLdb version %s, but _mysql is version %r" %
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 apilevel = "2.0"
 paramstyle = "format"
 
-from _mysql import *
+from ._mysql import *
 from MySQLdb.compat import PY2
 from MySQLdb.constants import FIELD_TYPE
 from MySQLdb.times import Date, Time, Timestamp, \
diff --git a/_mysql.c b/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
similarity index 99%
rename from _mysql.c
rename to MySQLdb/_mysql.c
index 537e61bc..04eadb7c 100644
--- a/_mysql.c
+++ b/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
@@ -2746,7 +2746,7 @@ init_mysql(void)
                    (PyObject *)&_mysql_ResultObject_Type))
         goto error;
     Py_INCREF(&_mysql_ResultObject_Type);
-    if (!(emod = PyImport_ImportModule("_mysql_exceptions"))) {
+    if (!(emod = PyImport_ImportModule("MySQLdb._mysql_exceptions"))) {
         PyErr_Print();
         goto error;
     }
diff --git a/_mysql_exceptions.py b/MySQLdb/_mysql_exceptions.py
similarity index 100%
rename from _mysql_exceptions.py
rename to MySQLdb/_mysql_exceptions.py
diff --git a/MySQLdb/connections.py b/MySQLdb/connections.py
index 10a0bf77..98c1ebff 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/connections.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/connections.py
@@ -7,14 +7,13 @@
 import re
 import sys
 
-from MySQLdb import cursors
+from MySQLdb import cursors, _mysql
 from MySQLdb.compat import unicode, PY2
-from _mysql_exceptions import (
+from MySQLdb._mysql_exceptions import (
     Warning, Error, InterfaceError, DataError,
     DatabaseError, OperationalError, IntegrityError, InternalError,
     NotSupportedError, ProgrammingError,
 )
-import _mysql
 
 
 if not PY2:
diff --git a/MySQLdb/converters.py b/MySQLdb/converters.py
index 5e28005d..c13e4265 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/converters.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/converters.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 MySQL.connect().
 """
 
-from _mysql import string_literal, escape, NULL
+from MySQLdb._mysql import string_literal, escape, NULL
 from MySQLdb.constants import FIELD_TYPE, FLAG
 from MySQLdb.times import *
 from MySQLdb.compat import PY2, long
diff --git a/MySQLdb/cursors.py b/MySQLdb/cursors.py
index 98b3c738..60044830 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/cursors.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/cursors.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 import re
 import sys
 
-from MySQLdb.compat import unicode
-from _mysql_exceptions import (
+from .compat import unicode
+from ._mysql_exceptions import (
     Warning, Error, InterfaceError, DataError,
     DatabaseError, OperationalError, IntegrityError, InternalError,
     NotSupportedError, ProgrammingError)
@@ -55,9 +55,11 @@ class BaseCursor(object):
     #: Default value of max_allowed_packet is 1048576.
     max_stmt_length = 64*1024
 
-    from _mysql_exceptions import MySQLError, Warning, Error, InterfaceError, \
-         DatabaseError, DataError, OperationalError, IntegrityError, \
-         InternalError, ProgrammingError, NotSupportedError
+    from ._mysql_exceptions import (
+        MySQLError, Warning, Error, InterfaceError,
+        DatabaseError, DataError, OperationalError, IntegrityError,
+        InternalError, ProgrammingError, NotSupportedError,
+    )
 
     _defer_warnings = False
     connection = None
diff --git a/MySQLdb/times.py b/MySQLdb/times.py
index e26f8868..510d1c7c 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/times.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/times.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 """
 from time import localtime
 from datetime import date, datetime, time, timedelta
-from _mysql import string_literal
+from MySQLdb._mysql import string_literal
 
 Date = date
 Time = time
diff --git a/doc/user_guide.rst b/doc/user_guide.rst
index d686b786..55c2c83f 100644
--- a/doc/user_guide.rst
+++ b/doc/user_guide.rst
@@ -17,11 +17,11 @@ Installation
 The ``README`` file has complete installation instructions.
 
 
-_mysql
-------
+MySQLdb._mysql
+--------------
 
 If you want to write applications which are portable across databases,
-use MySQLdb_, and avoid using this module directly. ``_mysql``
+use MySQLdb_, and avoid using this module directly. ``MySQLdb._mysql``
 provides an interface which mostly implements the MySQL C API. For
 more information, see the `MySQL documentation`_. The documentation
 for this module is intentionally weak because you probably should use
diff --git a/metadata.cfg b/metadata.cfg
index 6e05d35d..93b329b6 100644
--- a/metadata.cfg
+++ b/metadata.cfg
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ classifiers:
         Topic :: Database
         Topic :: Database :: Database Engines/Servers
 py_modules:
-        _mysql_exceptions
+        MySQLdb._mysql_exceptions
         MySQLdb.compat
         MySQLdb.connections
         MySQLdb.converters
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ca4b362e..d1029962 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@
     readme = f.read()
 
 metadata, options = get_config()
-metadata['ext_modules'] = [setuptools.Extension(sources=['_mysql.c'], **options)]
+metadata['ext_modules'] = [
+    setuptools.Extension("MySQLdb._mysql", sources=['MySQLdb/_mysql.c'], **options)
+]
 metadata['long_description'] = readme
 metadata['long_description_content_type'] = "text/markdown"
 setuptools.setup(**metadata)
diff --git a/setup_posix.py b/setup_posix.py
index 7b86ec73..9289bb50 100644
--- a/setup_posix.py
+++ b/setup_posix.py
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ def get_config():
     create_release_file(metadata)
     del metadata['version_info']
     ext_options = dict(
-        name = "_mysql",
         library_dirs = library_dirs,
         libraries = libraries,
         extra_compile_args = extra_compile_args,
@@ -102,7 +101,7 @@ def get_config():
         include_dirs = include_dirs,
         extra_objects = extra_objects,
         define_macros = define_macros,
-        )
+    )
 
     # newer versions of gcc require libstdc++ if doing a static build
     if static:
diff --git a/setup_windows.py b/setup_windows.py
index 74279077..0811e127 100644
--- a/setup_windows.py
+++ b/setup_windows.py
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ def get_config():
     create_release_file(metadata)
     del metadata['version_info']
     ext_options = dict(
-        name = "_mysql",
         library_dirs = library_dirs,
         libraries = libraries,
         extra_compile_args = extra_compile_args,
@@ -43,7 +42,7 @@ def get_config():
         include_dirs = include_dirs,
         extra_objects = extra_objects,
         define_macros = define_macros,
-        )
+    )
     return metadata, ext_options
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/tests/test_MySQLdb_nonstandard.py b/tests/test_MySQLdb_nonstandard.py
index 52f6a4fb..a06d5edf 100644
--- a/tests/test_MySQLdb_nonstandard.py
+++ b/tests/test_MySQLdb_nonstandard.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import unittest
 
-import _mysql
+from MySQLdb import _mysql
 import MySQLdb
 from MySQLdb.constants import FIELD_TYPE
 from configdb import connection_factory
diff --git a/tests/test__mysql.py b/tests/test__mysql.py
index e2cb6088..dd024b72 100644
--- a/tests/test__mysql.py
+++ b/tests/test__mysql.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import pytest
-import _mysql
+from MySQLdb import _mysql
 
 
 def test_result_type():