diff --git a/Lib/io.py b/Lib/io.py
index e9fe619392e3d9..fadc19c09be424 100644
--- a/Lib/io.py
+++ b/Lib/io.py
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@
 import _io
 import abc
 
-from _collections_abc import _check_methods
 from _io import (DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE, BlockingIOError, UnsupportedOperation,
                  open, open_code, FileIO, BytesIO, StringIO, BufferedReader,
                  BufferedWriter, BufferedRWPair, BufferedRandom,
@@ -126,6 +125,7 @@ def read(self, size=..., /):
     @classmethod
     def __subclasshook__(cls, C):
         if cls is Reader:
+            from _collections_abc import _check_methods
             return _check_methods(C, "read")
         return NotImplemented
 
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ def write(self, data, /):
     @classmethod
     def __subclasshook__(cls, C):
         if cls is Writer:
+            from _collections_abc import _check_methods
             return _check_methods(C, "write")
         return NotImplemented