diff --git a/airflow/providers/google/cloud/operators/kubernetes_engine.py b/airflow/providers/google/cloud/operators/kubernetes_engine.py
index 233a9d62a049a..a634b325011ae 100644
--- a/airflow/providers/google/cloud/operators/kubernetes_engine.py
+++ b/airflow/providers/google/cloud/operators/kubernetes_engine.py
@@ -27,14 +27,8 @@
 
 from airflow.configuration import conf
 from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException, AirflowProviderDeprecationWarning
+from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.operators.pod import KubernetesPodOperator
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.utils.pod_manager import OnFinishAction
-
-try:
-    from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.operators.pod import KubernetesPodOperator
-except ImportError:
-    # preserve backward compatibility for older versions of cncf.kubernetes provider
-    from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.operators.kubernetes_pod import KubernetesPodOperator
-
 from airflow.providers.google.cloud.hooks.kubernetes_engine import GKEHook, GKEPodHook
 from airflow.providers.google.cloud.links.kubernetes_engine import (
     KubernetesEngineClusterLink,