diff --git a/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py b/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
index 2b411738c..09b41034d 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
@@ -367,15 +367,14 @@ def run_server(
         )
         try:
             import uvicorn
+            import gunicorn.app.base
         except:
             raise ImportError(
-                "Uvicorn needs to be imported. Run - `pip install uvicorn`"
+                "Uvicorn, gunicorn needs to be imported. Run - `pip 'litellm[proxy]'`"
             )
         if port == 8000 and is_port_in_use(port):
             port = random.randint(1024, 49152)
 
-        import gunicorn.app.base
-
         class StandaloneApplication(gunicorn.app.base.BaseApplication):
             def __init__(self, app, options=None):
                 self.options = options or {}
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py b/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
index e93c9baf1..a1390688e 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ sys.path.insert(
 )  # Adds the parent directory to the system path - for litellm local dev
 
 try:
-    import uvicorn
     import fastapi
     import backoff
     import yaml