diff --git a/scripts/commands.py b/scripts/commands.py
index a88ad0ae09..783e6bd295 100644
--- a/scripts/commands.py
+++ b/scripts/commands.py
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 import browse
 import json
-from memory.local import LocalCache
-from memory.pinecone import PineconeMemory
-from memory.redismem import RedisMemory
+from memory import get_memory
 import datetime
 import agent_manager as agents
 import speak
@@ -54,12 +52,7 @@ def get_command(response):
 
 
 def execute_command(command_name, arguments):
-    if cfg.memory_backend == "pinecone":
-        memory = PineconeMemory(cfg=cfg)
-    elif cfg.memory_backend == "redis":
-        memory = RedisMemory(cfg=cfg)
-    else:
-        memory = LocalCache(cfg=cfg)
+    memory = get_memory(cfg)
 
     try:
         if command_name == "google":
diff --git a/scripts/main.py b/scripts/main.py
index e49f1810d2..11bf0dc1b2 100644
--- a/scripts/main.py
+++ b/scripts/main.py
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 import json
 import random
 import commands as cmd
-from memory.local import LocalCache
-from memory.pinecone import PineconeMemory
-from memory.redismem import RedisMemory
+from memory import get_memory
 import data
 import chat
 from colorama import Fore, Style
@@ -285,13 +283,7 @@ user_input = "Determine which next command to use, and respond using the format
 
 # Initialize memory and make sure it is empty.
 # this is particularly important for indexing and referencing pinecone memory
-if cfg.memory_backend == "pinecone":
-    memory = PineconeMemory(cfg)
-    memory.clear()
-elif cfg.memory_backend == "redis":
-    memory = RedisMemory(cfg)
-else:
-    memory = LocalCache(cfg)
+memory = get_memory(cfg, init=True)
 
 print('Using memory of type: ' + memory.__class__.__name__)
 
diff --git a/scripts/memory/__init__.py b/scripts/memory/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2..dacb05b328 100644
--- a/scripts/memory/__init__.py
+++ b/scripts/memory/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+from memory.local import LocalCache
+try:
+    from memory.redismem import RedisMemory
+except ImportError:
+    print("Redis not installed. Skipping import.")
+    RedisMemory = None
+
+try:
+    from memory.pinecone import PineconeMemory
+except ImportError:
+    print("Pinecone not installed. Skipping import.")
+    PineconeMemory = None
+
+
+def get_memory(cfg, init=False):
+    memory = None
+    if cfg.memory_backend == "pinecone":
+        if not PineconeMemory:
+            print("Error: Pinecone is not installed. Please install pinecone"
+                  " to use Pinecone as a memory backend.")
+        else:
+            memory = PineconeMemory(cfg)
+            if init:
+                memory.clear()
+    elif cfg.memory_backend == "redis":
+        if not RedisMemory:
+            print("Error: Redis is not installed. Please install redis-py to"
+                  " use Redis as a memory backend.")
+        else:
+            memory = RedisMemory(cfg)
+
+    if memory is None:
+        memory = LocalCache(cfg)
+    return memory
+
+
+__all__ = [
+    "get_memory",
+    "LocalCache",
+    "RedisCache",
+    "PineconeCache",
+]