Unused imports that are imported solely for side effects should be imported this way to avoid that problem: import ( _ "github.com/some/package" ) Giv

Unused imports that are imported solely for side effects should be imported this way to avoid that problem: import ( _ "github.com/some/package" ) Given that this is the only way to have unused imports with mainline Go — in other words, it's impossible to accidentally remove one once it's been declared this way — I'm not sure I see what the argument is.