diff --git a/lib/tool_shed/util/basic_util.py b/lib/tool_shed/util/basic_util.py
index 11d2895cedd..60c7d2ca570 100644
--- a/lib/tool_shed/util/basic_util.py
+++ b/lib/tool_shed/util/basic_util.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import shutil
 import sys
 from string import Template
 
-from galaxy.util import unicodify
+from galaxy.util import unicodify, nice_size
 
 from galaxy import eggs
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def remove_dir( dir ):
 def size_string( raw_text, size=MAX_DISPLAY_SIZE ):
     """Return a subset of a string (up to MAX_DISPLAY_SIZE) translated to a safe string for display in a browser."""
     if raw_text and len( raw_text ) >= size:
-        large_str = '\nFile contents truncated because file size is larger than maximum viewing size of %s\n' % util.nice_size( size )
+        large_str = '\nFile contents truncated because file size is larger than maximum viewing size of %s\n' % nice_size( size )
         raw_text = '%s%s' % ( raw_text[ 0:size ], large_str )
     return raw_text or ''