diff --git a/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/vq_model.py b/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/vq_model.py
index 2f9e75623e..ae8a118d71 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/vq_model.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/vq_model.py
@@ -166,12 +166,12 @@ class VQModel(ModelMixin, ConfigMixin):
         Args:
             sample (`torch.Tensor`): Input sample.
             return_dict (`bool`, *optional*, defaults to `True`):
-                Whether or not to return a [`models.vq_model.VQEncoderOutput`] instead of a plain tuple.
+                Whether or not to return a [`models.autoencoders.vq_model.VQEncoderOutput`] instead of a plain tuple.
 
         Returns:
-            [`~models.vq_model.VQEncoderOutput`] or `tuple`:
-                If return_dict is True, a [`~models.vq_model.VQEncoderOutput`] is returned, otherwise a plain `tuple`
-                is returned.
+            [`~models.autoencoders.vq_model.VQEncoderOutput`] or `tuple`:
+                If return_dict is True, a [`~models.autoencoders.vq_model.VQEncoderOutput`] is returned, otherwise a
+                plain `tuple` is returned.
         """
 
         h = self.encode(sample).latents
diff --git a/src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py b/src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py
index 71aeb09049..f946e46344 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py
@@ -16,10 +16,14 @@ from .autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput, VQModel
 
 
 class VQEncoderOutput(VQEncoderOutput):
-    deprecation_message = "Importing `VQEncoderOutput` from `diffusers.models.vq_model` is deprecated and this will be removed in a future version. Please use `from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput`, instead."
-    deprecate("VQEncoderOutput", "0.31", deprecation_message)
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        deprecation_message = "Importing `VQEncoderOutput` from `diffusers.models.vq_model` is deprecated and this will be removed in a future version. Please use `from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput`, instead."
+        deprecate("VQEncoderOutput", "0.31", deprecation_message)
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
 
 class VQModel(VQModel):
-    deprecation_message = "Importing `VQModel` from `diffusers.models.vq_model` is deprecated and this will be removed in a future version. Please use `from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQModel`, instead."
-    deprecate("VQModel", "0.31", deprecation_message)
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        deprecation_message = "Importing `VQModel` from `diffusers.models.vq_model` is deprecated and this will be removed in a future version. Please use `from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQModel`, instead."
+        deprecate("VQModel", "0.31", deprecation_message)
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)