diff --git a/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/tls.hpp b/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/tls.hpp
index b5f1138593..c0d2962cb8 100644
--- a/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/tls.hpp
+++ b/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/tls.hpp
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 #ifndef OPENCV_UTILS_TLS_HPP
 #define OPENCV_UTILS_TLS_HPP
 
-#include <opencv2/core/utility.hpp>
+#ifndef OPENCV_CORE_UTILITY_H
+#error "tls.hpp must be included after opencv2/core/utility.hpp or opencv2/core.hpp"
+#endif
 
 namespace cv {
 
diff --git a/modules/python/src2/cv2.cpp b/modules/python/src2/cv2.cpp
index f49eedbd4d..8272513e64 100644
--- a/modules/python/src2/cv2.cpp
+++ b/modules/python/src2/cv2.cpp
@@ -31,13 +31,14 @@
 #define NPY_NO_DEPRECATED_API NPY_1_7_API_VERSION
 #include <numpy/ndarrayobject.h>
 
+#include "opencv2/opencv_modules.hpp"
+#include "opencv2/core.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/core/utils/configuration.private.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/core/utils/logger.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/core/utils/tls.hpp"
 
 #include "pyopencv_generated_include.h"
 #include "opencv2/core/types_c.h"
-#include "opencv2/opencv_modules.hpp"
 #include "pycompat.hpp"
 #include <map>