10 files changed, 19 insertions, 53 deletions
diff --git a/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py b/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py
index 31fbbdb54..70897d492 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -584,7 +584,8 @@ class YoutubeDL:
             for type_, stream in self._out_files.items_ if type_ != 'console'
         })
 
-        MIN_SUPPORTED, MIN_RECOMMENDED = (3, 6), (3, 7)
+        # The code is left like this to be reused for future deprecations
+        MIN_SUPPORTED, MIN_RECOMMENDED = (3, 7), (3, 7)
         current_version = sys.version_info[:2]
         if current_version < MIN_RECOMMENDED:
             msg = ('Support for Python version %d.%d has been deprecated. '
diff --git a/yt_dlp/__init__.py b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
index 7caf41c60..5b9b3541c 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/__init__.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-f'You are using an unsupported version of Python. Only Python versions 3.6 and above are supported by yt-dlp'  # noqa: F541
+f'You are using an unsupported version of Python. Only Python versions 3.7 and above are supported by yt-dlp'  # noqa: F541
 
 __license__ = 'Public Domain'
 
diff --git a/yt_dlp/compat/__init__.py b/yt_dlp/compat/__init__.py
index df1d4e671..6d85a6a1f 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/compat/__init__.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/compat/__init__.py
@@ -3,13 +3,12 @@ import sys
 import warnings
 import xml.etree.ElementTree as etree
 
-from . import re
 from ._deprecated import *  # noqa: F401, F403
 from .compat_utils import passthrough_module
 
 # XXX: Implement this the same way as other DeprecationWarnings without circular import
 passthrough_module(__name__, '._legacy', callback=lambda attr: warnings.warn(
-    DeprecationWarning(f'{__name__}.{attr} is deprecated'), stacklevel=2))
+    DeprecationWarning(f'{__name__}.{attr} is deprecated'), stacklevel=3))
 
 
 # HTMLParseError has been deprecated in Python 3.3 and removed in
@@ -33,6 +32,7 @@ compat_os_name = os._name if os.name == 'java' else os.name
 
 if compat_os_name == 'nt':
     def compat_shlex_quote(s):
+        import re
         return s if re.match(r'^[-_\w./]+$', s) else '"%s"' % s.replace('"', '\\"')
 else:
     from shlex import quote as compat_shlex_quote  # noqa: F401
diff --git a/yt_dlp/compat/_legacy.py b/yt_dlp/compat/_legacy.py
index e75f79bbf..09259c988 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/compat/_legacy.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/compat/_legacy.py
@@ -22,10 +22,14 @@ import urllib.request
 import xml.etree.ElementTree as etree
 from subprocess import DEVNULL
 
-from .compat_utils import passthrough_module  # isort: split
-from .asyncio import run as compat_asyncio_run  # noqa: F401
-from .re import Pattern as compat_Pattern  # noqa: F401
-from .re import match as compat_Match  # noqa: F401
+# isort: split
+import asyncio  # noqa: F401
+import re  # noqa: F401
+from asyncio import run as compat_asyncio_run  # noqa: F401
+from re import Pattern as compat_Pattern  # noqa: F401
+from re import match as compat_Match  # noqa: F401
+
+from .compat_utils import passthrough_module
 from ..dependencies import Cryptodome_AES as compat_pycrypto_AES  # noqa: F401
 from ..dependencies import brotli as compat_brotli  # noqa: F401
 from ..dependencies import websockets as compat_websockets  # noqa: F401
diff --git a/yt_dlp/compat/asyncio.py b/yt_dlp/compat/asyncio.py
deleted file mode 100644
index c61e5c8fd..000000000
--- a/yt_dlp/compat/asyncio.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-# flake8: noqa: F405
-from asyncio import *  # noqa: F403
-
-from .compat_utils import passthrough_module
-
-passthrough_module(__name__, 'asyncio')
-del passthrough_module
-
-try:
-    run  # >= 3.7
-except NameError:
-    def run(coro):
-        try:
-            loop = get_event_loop()
-        except RuntimeError:
-            loop = new_event_loop()
-            set_event_loop(loop)
-        loop.run_until_complete(coro)
-
-try:
-    all_tasks  # >= 3.7
-except NameError:
-    all_tasks = Task.all_tasks
diff --git a/yt_dlp/compat/re.py b/yt_dlp/compat/re.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e1d3a2645..000000000
--- a/yt_dlp/compat/re.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-# flake8: noqa: F405
-from re import *  # F403
-
-from .compat_utils import passthrough_module
-
-passthrough_module(__name__, 're')
-del passthrough_module
-
-try:
-    Pattern  # >= 3.7
-except NameError:
-    Pattern = type(compile(''))
-
-
-try:
-    Match  # >= 3.7
-except NameError:
-    Match = type(compile('').match(''))
diff --git a/yt_dlp/downloader/websocket.py b/yt_dlp/downloader/websocket.py
index 727a15828..6837ff1da 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/downloader/websocket.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/downloader/websocket.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import asyncio
 import contextlib
 import os
 import signal
@@ -5,7 +6,6 @@ import threading
 
 from .common import FileDownloader
 from .external import FFmpegFD
-from ..compat import asyncio
 from ..dependencies import websockets
 
 
diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
index f0eddcf26..1c751870c 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
@@ -11,13 +11,14 @@ import math
 import netrc
 import os
 import random
+import re
 import sys
 import time
 import urllib.parse
 import urllib.request
 import xml.etree.ElementTree
 
-from ..compat import functools, re  # isort: split
+from ..compat import functools  # isort: split
 from ..compat import compat_etree_fromstring, compat_expanduser, compat_os_name
 from ..downloader import FileDownloader
 from ..downloader.f4m import get_base_url, remove_encrypted_media
diff --git a/yt_dlp/utils.py b/yt_dlp/utils.py
index 7648b6fce..f0e9ee8c4 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/utils.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/utils.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import asyncio
 import atexit
 import base64
 import binascii
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ import urllib.request
 import xml.etree.ElementTree
 import zlib
 
-from .compat import asyncio, functools  # isort: split
+from .compat import functools  # isort: split
 from .compat import (
     compat_etree_fromstring,
     compat_expanduser,
diff --git a/yt_dlp/webvtt.py b/yt_dlp/webvtt.py
index b8974f883..cc2353436 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/webvtt.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/webvtt.py
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ in RFC 8216 §3.5 <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8216#section-3.5>.
 """
 
 import io
+import re
 
-from .compat import re
 from .utils import int_or_none, timetuple_from_msec