diff --git a/yt_dlp/dependencies/__init__.py b/yt_dlp/dependencies/__init__.py
index 61e4d17ffebe..0d58da2bd5bf 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/dependencies/__init__.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/dependencies/__init__.py
@@ -76,8 +76,6 @@
 
 try:
     import curl_cffi
-    if curl_cffi.__version__ != '0.5.10':
-        curl_cffi._yt_dlp__version = f'{curl_cffi.__version__} (unsupported)'
 except ImportError:
     curl_cffi = None
 
diff --git a/yt_dlp/networking/_curlcffi.py b/yt_dlp/networking/_curlcffi.py
index 1b0d4a9e5425..39d1f70fb053 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/networking/_curlcffi.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/networking/_curlcffi.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 curl_cffi_version = tuple(int_or_none(x, default=0) for x in curl_cffi.__version__.split('.'))
 
 if curl_cffi_version != (0, 5, 10):
+    curl_cffi._yt_dlp__version = f'{curl_cffi.__version__} (unsupported)'
     raise ImportError('Only curl_cffi 0.5.10 is supported')
 
 import curl_cffi.requests