diff --git a/newsfragments/4126.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/4126.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..467a94887a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/4126.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fixed imports of ``setuptools.dep_util.newer_group``.
+A deprecation warning is issued instead of a hard failure.
diff --git a/setuptools/dep_util.py b/setuptools/dep_util.py
index e30cd41b49..c8ab14c8f2 100644
--- a/setuptools/dep_util.py
+++ b/setuptools/dep_util.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 
 def __getattr__(name):
-    if name not in ['newer_pairwise_group']:
+    if name not in ['newer_group', 'newer_pairwise_group']:
         raise AttributeError(name)
     warnings.warn(
         "dep_util is Deprecated. Use functions from setuptools.modified instead.",