diff --git a/pandas/io/html.py b/pandas/io/html.py
index 8fd876e85889f..3b43a136c5424 100644
--- a/pandas/io/html.py
+++ b/pandas/io/html.py
@@ -127,8 +127,8 @@ def _read(obj):
     raw_text : str
     """
     if _is_url(obj):
-        with urlopen(obj) as url:
-            text = url.read()
+        import requests
+        text = requests.get(obj).content
     elif hasattr(obj, 'read'):
         text = obj.read()
     elif isinstance(obj, char_types):
@@ -985,3 +985,4 @@ def read_html(io, match='.+', flavor=None, header=None, index_col=None,
                   decimal=decimal, converters=converters, na_values=na_values,
                   keep_default_na=keep_default_na,
                   displayed_only=displayed_only)
+