Mac M1 compatibility issue with lxml library causing namespace symbol error in langchain document processing

Other Questions langchain
1

I’m running into a frustrating issue while working with langchain on my Mac M1 system (macOS 12.5.1, Python 3.9). Every time I try to load documents from a directory, I get a symbol not found error related to lxml.

Here’s my simple test code:

from langchain.document_loaders import DirectoryLoader

def main():
    doc_loader = DirectoryLoader('./files/', glob='**/*.md')
    loaded_docs = doc_loader.load()
    print(f"Loaded {len(loaded_docs)} documents")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

The error traceback shows that the problem occurs when trying to import lxml.etree, specifically with this error: symbol not found in flat namespace (_exsltDateXpathCtxtRegister). The issue seems to be triggered by the python-docx dependency that langchain uses internally.

I confirmed this by testing import docx directly in the Python shell, which produces the exact same error. Has anyone else encountered this symbol resolution problem on Apple Silicon Macs? What’s the best way to resolve this lxml compatibility issue?

2

I experienced a similar issue with lxml on my M1 Mac. The root cause often lies in the lxml binaries not being optimized for ARM architecture. To resolve this, I uninstalled both lxml and python-docx using pip uninstall lxml python-docx. After that, I reinstalled lxml with pip install --no-binary lxml lxml, forcing it to compile from source for the M1 chip. Alternatively, using conda can simplify binary management, as it tends to have better support for ARM64. Additionally, consider upgrading to Python 3.10 as it may further alleviate compatibility issues. The symbol errors indeed stem from architectural discrepancies, and compiling from source should help.

3

switch to conda-forge instead of pip for lxml on m1. had the same nightmare and conda install -c conda-forge lxml fixed it instantly. conda handles arm64 binaries way better than pip.

4

Been there. This exact lxml nightmare hit our team when we migrated to M1 MacBooks last year.

The quick fix that saved me hours: use Homebrew’s libxml2 and libxslt first. Run brew install libxml2 libxslt then point pip to those libraries:

export LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix libxml2)/lib -L$(brew --prefix libxslt)/lib"
export CPPFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix libxml2)/include -I$(brew --prefix libxslt)/include"
pip install --no-cache-dir lxml

This forces lxml to link against Homebrew’s ARM64 native libraries instead of whatever broken x86 stuff it’s trying to use.

If you’re still stuck, pyenv with Python 3.10 or 3.11 works better than 3.9 for M1 compatibility. The newer Python versions have better ARM64 support built in.

I keep a requirements.txt with specific versions now: lxml==4.9.3 works solid on M1. Newer versions sometimes break again.

Worth the 10 minutes to get it right once instead of hitting this every project.

5

Yeah, classic M1 compatibility nightmare. I’ve watched this exact lxml symbol error kill entire deployment pipelines.

The problem? lxml binaries hate Apple Silicon’s architecture. Most people reinstall with different flags or switch Python versions, but you’re just patching symptoms.

Here’s what actually works: ditch the local environment headaches. I hit this same wall processing thousands of markdown files for our docs. Instead of fighting M1 compatibility, I moved the whole workflow to the cloud using Latenode.

Set up a workflow that watches your files, processes docs with langchain in a stable Linux environment, and spits back results. No lxml errors, no architecture conflicts.

You get consistent processing no matter what machine you’re on. Scales up when you need to handle bigger batches too.

I went from hours debugging library conflicts to a bulletproof pipeline in 20 minutes.

Check it out: https://latenode.com