diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 9e32e964..e42a1c1c 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -7,12 +7,17 @@ Changelog
 
 - Add and run a black version, that is compatible with Python 2.
   [pgrunewald]
+  
 - Fix ``AtributeError: 'NamedImage' object has no attribute '_blob'`` similar to #236.
   [petschki]
 
 - Make zcml conditions more specific so that migration aliases don't trigger them
   [reinhardt]
 
+- Fix several ``UnboundLocalError`` exceptions when doing automated import
+  with ``return_json=True``
+  [petschki]
+
 - Suppress events when importing ordering to not trigger ContainerModifiedEvent.
   [pbauer]
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6b23ef55..34d2485b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
     install_requires.append("jsonschema < 4")
     install_requires.append("pathlib2")
     install_requires.append("plone.api >= 1.8.4, < 2")
-
     install_requires.append("ijson < 3.3.0")
     # There is a py2-imcompatibility in plone.rest 3.0.1
     install_requires.append("plone.rest < 3.0.1")
diff --git a/src/collective/exportimport/import_other.py b/src/collective/exportimport/import_other.py
index 15610c14..33973462 100644
--- a/src/collective/exportimport/import_other.py
+++ b/src/collective/exportimport/import_other.py
@@ -88,11 +88,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
                 except Exception as e:
                     logger.error(e)
                     status = "error"
-                    msg = e
-                    api.portal.show_message(
-                        _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e),
-                        request=self.request,
-                    )
+                    msg = _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e)
+                    api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
                 else:
                     msg = self.do_import(data)
                     api.portal.show_message(msg, self.request)
@@ -194,10 +191,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
             except Exception as e:
                 status = "error"
                 logger.error(e)
-                api.portal.show_message(
-                    _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e),
-                    request=self.request,
-                )
+                msg = _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e)
+                api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
             else:
                 groups = self.import_groups(data["groups"])
                 members = self.import_members(data["members"])
@@ -385,10 +380,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
             except Exception as e:
                 status = "error"
                 logger.error(e)
-                api.portal.show_message(
-                    _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e),
-                    request=self.request,
-                )
+                msg = _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e)
+                api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
             else:
                 localroles = self.import_localroles(data)
                 msg = _(u"Imported {} localroles").format(localroles)
@@ -461,10 +454,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
             except Exception as e:
                 status = "error"
                 logger.error(e)
-                api.portal.show_message(
-                    _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e),
-                    request=self.request,
-                )
+                msg = _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e)
+                api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
             else:
                 start = datetime.now()
                 orders = self.import_ordering(data)
@@ -519,10 +510,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
             except Exception as e:
                 status = "error"
                 logger.error(e)
-                api.portal.show_message(
-                    u"Failure while uploading: {}".format(e),
-                    request=self.request,
-                )
+                msg = u"Failure while uploading: {}".format(e)
+                api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
             else:
                 defaultpages = self.import_default_pages(data)
                 msg = _(u"Changed {} default pages").format(defaultpages)
@@ -592,10 +581,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
             except Exception as e:
                 status = "error"
                 logger.error(e)
-                api.portal.show_message(
-                    _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e),
-                    request=self.request,
-                )
+                msg = _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e)
+                api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
             else:
                 results = self.import_data(data)
                 msg = _(u"Imported {} comments").format(results)
@@ -688,10 +675,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
             except Exception as e:
                 status = "error"
                 logger.error(e)
-                api.portal.show_message(
-                    _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e),
-                    request=self.request,
-                )
+                msg = _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e)
+                api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
             else:
                 portlets = self.import_portlets(data)
                 msg = _(u"Created {} portlets").format(portlets)
@@ -875,10 +860,8 @@ def __call__(self, jsonfile=None, return_json=False):
             except Exception as e:
                 status = "error"
                 logger.error(e)
-                api.portal.show_message(
-                    _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e),
-                    request=self.request,
-                )
+                msg = _(u"Failure while uploading: {}").format(e)
+                api.portal.show_message(msg, request=self.request)
             else:
                 import_plone_redirects(data)
                 msg = _(u"Redirects imported")