diff --git a/hooks/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/utils.py b/hooks/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/utils.py
index 1a44ab1..b19f7e4 100644
--- a/hooks/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/utils.py
+++ b/hooks/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/utils.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 # Common python helper functions used for OpenStack charms.
 from collections import OrderedDict
 
-import apt_pkg as apt
 import subprocess
 import os
 import socket
@@ -132,6 +131,7 @@ def get_os_version_codename(codename):
 
 def get_os_codename_package(package, fatal=True):
     '''Derive OpenStack release codename from an installed package.'''
+    import apt_pkg as apt
     apt.init()
 
     # Tell apt to build an in-memory cache to prevent race conditions (if
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@ def openstack_upgrade_available(package):
 
     """
 
+    import apt_pkg as apt
     src = config('openstack-origin')
     cur_vers = get_os_version_package(package)
     available_vers = get_os_version_install_source(src)
diff --git a/hooks/charmhelpers/core/fstab.py b/hooks/charmhelpers/core/fstab.py
index cdd7261..cfaf0a6 100644
--- a/hooks/charmhelpers/core/fstab.py
+++ b/hooks/charmhelpers/core/fstab.py
@@ -48,9 +48,11 @@ class Fstab(file):
         file.__init__(self, self._path, 'r+')
 
     def _hydrate_entry(self, line):
+        # NOTE: use split with no arguments to split on any
+        #       whitespace including tabs
         return Fstab.Entry(*filter(
             lambda x: x not in ('', None),
-            line.strip("\n").split(" ")))
+            line.strip("\n").split()))
 
     @property
     def entries(self):
diff --git a/hooks/charmhelpers/core/host.py b/hooks/charmhelpers/core/host.py
index 46bfd36..59f8fac 100644
--- a/hooks/charmhelpers/core/host.py
+++ b/hooks/charmhelpers/core/host.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import random
 import string
 import subprocess
 import hashlib
-import apt_pkg
 
 from collections import OrderedDict
 
@@ -318,6 +317,7 @@ def cmp_pkgrevno(package, revno, pkgcache=None):
        0 => Installed revno is the same as supplied arg
       -1 => Installed revno is less than supplied arg
     '''
+    import apt_pkg
     if not pkgcache:
         apt_pkg.init()
         pkgcache = apt_pkg.Cache()
diff --git a/hooks/charmhelpers/fetch/__init__.py b/hooks/charmhelpers/fetch/__init__.py
index e8e837a..b5cb48e 100644
--- a/hooks/charmhelpers/fetch/__init__.py
+++ b/hooks/charmhelpers/fetch/__init__.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ from charmhelpers.core.hookenv import (
     config,
     log,
 )
-import apt_pkg
 import os
 
 
@@ -117,6 +116,7 @@ class BaseFetchHandler(object):
 
 def filter_installed_packages(packages):
     """Returns a list of packages that require installation"""
+    import apt_pkg
     apt_pkg.init()
 
     # Tell apt to build an in-memory cache to prevent race conditions (if