diff --git a/research/object_detection/utils/label_map_util.py b/research/object_detection/utils/label_map_util.py
index c395a716..913d7edb 100644
--- a/research/object_detection/utils/label_map_util.py
+++ b/research/object_detection/utils/label_map_util.py
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ def load_labelmap(path):
   Returns:
     a StringIntLabelMapProto
   """
-  with tf.gfile.GFile(path, 'r') as fid:
+  with tf.compat.v1.gfile.GFile(path, 'r') as fid:
     label_map_string = fid.read()
     label_map = string_int_label_map_pb2.StringIntLabelMap()
     try: