Django ImportError: cannot import name 'python_2_unicode_compatible' from 'django.utils.encoding'

I know others have had a similar issues with and getting this same error, but I think my situation is unique. I am running Django 3.1.4 and on my local machine, I can run python manage.py shell with no issue. On the server instance, running what should be the same project, and the same version of Django, I get:

Django ImportError: cannot import name 'python_2_unicode_compatible' from 'django.utils.encoding'

When trying to run manage.py shell. To make things more cryptic, if I open the shell on my local machine and run:

from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible

I get the same error. So for some reason when I call manage.py shell from my local machine it doesn't try to import python_2_unicode_compatible, but when I run it from the server it does. I can't find where the discrepancy is.

Here is the full stacktrace if that is helpful:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "manage.py", line 10, in <module>
    execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
  File "/home/chase/Env/mantis/lib/python3.8/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 401, in execute_from_command_line
    utility.execute()
  File "/home/chase/Env/mantis/lib/python3.8/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 377, in execute
    django.setup()
  File "/home/chase/Env/mantis/lib/python3.8/site-packages/django/__init__.py", line 24, in setup
    apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
  File "/home/chase/Env/mantis/lib/python3.8/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 114, in populate
    app_config.import_models()
  File "/home/chase/Env/mantis/lib/python3.8/site-packages/django/apps/config.py", line 211, in import_models
    self.models_module = import_module(models_module_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/importlib/__init__.py", line 127, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1014, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 991, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 975, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 671, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 848, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "/home/chase/Env/mantis/lib/python3.8/site-packages/request/models.py", line 7, in <module>
    from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
ImportError: cannot import name 'python_2_unicode_compatible' from 'django.utils.encoding' (/home/chase/Env/mantis/lib/python3.8/site-packages/django/utils/encoding.py)

Any ideas on where to start poking around?

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