diff --git a/Utilities/Sphinx/.flake8 b/Utilities/Sphinx/.flake8
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7218008fed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Utilities/Sphinx/.flake8
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[flake8]
+per-file-ignores =
+     cmake.py: E402
diff --git a/Utilities/Sphinx/cmake.py b/Utilities/Sphinx/cmake.py
index faca2eda7f..d3eb94814c 100644
--- a/Utilities/Sphinx/cmake.py
+++ b/Utilities/Sphinx/cmake.py
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ from typing import Any, List, Tuple, Type, cast
 
 import sphinx
 
+# Require at least Sphinx 2.x.
+# flake8 issues E402 for imports after this, but the purpose of this
+# check is to fail more clearly if the imports below will fail.
+assert sphinx.version_info >= (2,)
+
 from docutils.utils.code_analyzer import Lexer, LexerError
 from docutils.parsers.rst import Directive, directives
 from docutils.transforms import Transform
@@ -110,9 +115,6 @@ CMakeLexer.tokens["root"] = [
 
 # %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 
-# Require at least Sphinx 2.x.
-assert sphinx.version_info >= (2,)
-
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # RE to split multiple command signatures.