diff --git a/auth/email.py b/auth/email.py
index 4e531c81..7ca5d9bf 100644
--- a/auth/email.py
+++ b/auth/email.py
@@ -1,16 +1,20 @@
-import httpx
+import requests
+
 from settings import MAILGUN_API_KEY, MAILGUN_DOMAIN
 
-api_url = f"https://api.mailgun.net/v3/{MAILGUN_DOMAIN or 'discours.io'}/messages"
-noreply = f"discours.io <noreply@{MAILGUN_DOMAIN or 'discours.io'}>"
-lang_subject = {"ru": "Подтверждение почты", "en": "Confirm email"}
+api_url = "https://api.mailgun.net/v3/%s/messages" % (MAILGUN_DOMAIN or 'discours.io')
+noreply = "discours.io <noreply@%s>" % (MAILGUN_DOMAIN or 'discours.io')
+lang_subject = {
+    "ru": "Подтверждение почты",
+    "en": "Confirm email"
+}
 
 
 async def send_auth_email(user, token, lang="ru", template="email_confirmation"):
     try:
-        to = f"{user.name} <{user.email}>"
-        if lang not in ["ru", "en"]:
-            lang = "ru"
+        to = "%s <%s>" % (user.name, user.email)
+        if lang not in ['ru', 'en']:
+            lang = 'ru'
         subject = lang_subject.get(lang, lang_subject["en"])
         template = template + "_" + lang
         payload = {
@@ -18,13 +22,16 @@ async def send_auth_email(user, token, lang="ru", template="email_confirmation")
             "to": to,
             "subject": subject,
             "template": template,
-            "h:X-Mailgun-Variables": f'{{ "token": "{token}" }}',
+            "h:X-Mailgun-Variables": "{ \"token\": \"%s\" }" % token
         }
-        print(f"[auth.email] payload: {payload}")
-        async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
-            response = await client.post(
-                api_url, auth=("api", MAILGUN_API_KEY), data=payload
-            )
-            response.raise_for_status()
+        print('[auth.email] payload: %r' % payload)
+        # debug
+        # print('http://localhost:3000/?modal=auth&mode=confirm-email&token=%s' % token)
+        response = requests.post(
+            api_url,
+            auth=("api", MAILGUN_API_KEY),
+            data=payload
+        )
+        response.raise_for_status()
     except Exception as e:
         print(e)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index ea8a8f44..afa82030 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 aredis>=1.1.8
 httpx>=0.23.0
-git+https://github.com/graphql-python/gql#master
+gql[requests] # TODO: replace with httpx when stable
 git+https://github.com/encode/starlette.git#main
 sqlalchemy>=1.4.41
 ariadne>=0.17.0