diff --git a/docs/release.rst b/docs/release.rst
index a361bbc8d9..2f9b93a361 100644
--- a/docs/release.rst
+++ b/docs/release.rst
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ Unreleased
 Maintenance
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 
+* Change occurrence of ``io.open()`` into ``open()``.
+  By :user:`Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos <DimitriPapadopoulos>` :issue:`1421`.
+
 * Preserve ``dimension_separator`` when resizing arrays.
   By :user:`Ziwen Liu <ziw-liu>` :issue:`1533`.
 
diff --git a/zarr/convenience.py b/zarr/convenience.py
index ff236d0df2..0ee8a8d323 100644
--- a/zarr/convenience.py
+++ b/zarr/convenience.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 """Convenience functions for storing and loading data."""
-import io
 import itertools
 import os
 import re
@@ -29,6 +28,8 @@
 
 StoreLike = Union[BaseStore, MutableMapping, str, None]
 
+_builtin_open = open  # builtin open is later shadowed by a local open function
+
 
 def _check_and_update_path(store: BaseStore, path):
     if getattr(store, "_store_version", 2) > 2 and not path:
@@ -491,7 +492,7 @@ def __init__(self, log):
         elif callable(log):
             self.log_func = log
         elif isinstance(log, str):
-            self.log_file = io.open(log, mode="w")
+            self.log_file = _builtin_open(log, mode="w")
             self.needs_closing = True
         elif hasattr(log, "write"):
             self.log_file = log