Restore custom distutils handling for resolving paths to submodules.

.github/workflows/release-tests.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+name: Release tests
+
+on: workflow_dispatch
+
+env:
+  DEFAULT_PYTHON: 3.8
+
+jobs:
+  virtualenv-15-windows-test:
+    # Regression test added in https://github.com/PyCQA/astroid/pull/1386
+    name: Regression test for virtualenv==15.1.0 on Windows
+    runs-on: windows-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out code from GitHub
+        uses: actions/[email protected]
+      - name: Set up Python
+        id: python
+        uses: actions/[email protected]
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env.DEFAULT_PYTHON }}
+      - name: Create Python virtual environment with virtualenv==15.1.0
+        run: |
+          python -m pip install virtualenv==15.1.0
+          python -m virtualenv venv2
+          . venv2\scripts\activate
+          python -m pip install pylint
+          python -m pip install -e .
+      - name: Test no import-error from distutils.util
+        run: |
+          . venv2\scripts\activate
+          echo "import distutils.util  # pylint: disable=unused-import" > test.py
+          pylint test.py

ChangeLog

@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ Release date: 2021-12-31
 
   Ref #1321
 
+* Restore custom ``distutils`` handling for resolving paths to submodules.
+
+  Closes PyCQA/pylint#5645
+
 * Fix ``deque.insert()`` signature in ``collections`` brain.
 
   Closes #1260

astroid/interpreter/_import/spec.py

@@ -19,10 +19,12 @@
 import collections
 import enum
 import importlib.machinery
+import importlib.util
 import os
 import sys
 import zipimport
 from functools import lru_cache
+from pathlib import Path
 
 from . import util
 
@@ -160,6 +162,21 @@ def contribute_to_path(self, spec, processed):
                 for p in sys.path
                 if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(p, *processed))
             ]
+        elif spec.name == "distutils":
+            # virtualenv below 20.0 patches distutils in an unexpected way
+            # so we just find the location of distutils that will be
+            # imported to avoid spurious import-error messages
+            # https://github.com/PyCQA/pylint/issues/5645
+            # A regression test to create this scenario exists in release-tests.yml
+            # and can be triggered manually from GitHub Actions
+            distutils_spec = importlib.util.find_spec("distutils")
+            if distutils_spec and distutils_spec.origin:
+                origin_path = Path(
+                    distutils_spec.origin
+                )  # e.g. .../distutils/__init__.py
+                path = [str(origin_path.parent)]  # e.g. .../distutils
+            else:
+                path = [spec.location]
         else:
             path = [spec.location]
         return path

doc/release.md

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ So, you want to release the `X.Y.Z` version of astroid ?
 
 ## Process
 
+(Consider triggering the "release tests" workflow in GitHub Actions first.)
+
 1. Check if the dependencies of the package are correct
 2. Check the result (Do `git diff vX.Y.Z-1 ChangeLog` in particular).
 3. Install the release dependencies `pip3 install pre-commit tbump`