Installing lxml for Python 3.4 on Windows x 86 (32 bit) with Visual Studio C++ 2010 Express

I also got this problem, but the workarounds provided above are not work for me as well.

Here is my system configuration:

  • Win7 64bit
  • python3.3
  • visual studio 2013

I tried to use the method in the first link in the Related questions, but it's fail. This method is to create a system variable for vs2010 use, and the variable is actually copy from my original configuration in visual studio 2013.

However, the command line prompted error with "libxml/xmlversion.h" no suck file or directory

Then I further searched it on the internet and got a method which works in my case.

  1. downloading the precompiled lxml plugin

    Precompiled lxml 3.5: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/lxml/3.3.5#downloads

    if your system is 64bit, then you can get a unofficial version for x64 at here: http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/#lxml (this is what i use)

  2. installing with command in command line easy_install lxml-3.2.1.win32-py3.3.‌exe

    Reference: https://pytools.codeplex.com/workitem/1520


If you are using python 3.4 this is the download link :

Download Here

If you have any other configuration find it HERE according to your need. ;-)


The short version is: You need to have the C library libxml2 (and also libxslt2) before you can build lxml.


As the lxml installation docs say:

Unless you are using a static binary distribution (e.g. from a Windows binary installer), you need to install libxml2 and libxslt, in particular:

  • libxml2 2.6.21 or later. It can be found here: http://xmlsoft.org/downloads.html

    • We recommend `libxml2 2.7.8 or a later version.
    • If you want to use XPath, do not use libxml2 2.6.27.
    • If you want to use the feed parser interface, especially when parsing from unicode strings, do not use libxml2 2.7.4 through 2.7.6.
  • libxslt 1.1.15 or later. It can be found here: http://xmlsoft.org/XSLT/downloads.html

    • We recommend libxslt 1.1.26 or later.

The build from source docs similarly start off with:

To build lxml from source, you need libxml2 and libxslt properly installed, including the header files.


Windows (unlike most other platforms) doesn't come with these libraries. You don't mention anything in your "Facts" about having them.


And the error message that you showed is:

C:\Users\NATHAN~1\AppData\Local\Temp\pip_build_nathanielanderson\lxml\src\lxml\includes\etree_defs.h(9) : 
fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'libxml/xmlversion.h': 
No such file or directory

That 'libxml/xmlversion.h' that it can't find is part of libxml2.


It's also worth noting that the same installation docs explicitly say:

consider using the binary builds from PyPI or the unofficial Windows binaries that Christoph Gohlke generously provides.

So, the fact that you thought Christoph Gohlke didn't provide binaries for lxml implies that you hadn't found these docs.


So, it's possible that you did install libxml2, but not in a way that lxml2's setup script can find it. But all the evidence implies it's a lot more likely that you just don't have it.