diff --git a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
index 32ee3b4d..f4c75941 100644
--- a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 import posixpath
 import collections
 
-from . import _adapters, _meta
+from . import _meta
 from .compat import py39
 from ._collections import FreezableDefaultDict, Pair
 from ._compat import (
@@ -461,6 +461,9 @@ def metadata(self) -> _meta.PackageMetadata:
         Custom providers may provide the METADATA file or override this
         property.
         """
+        # deferred for performance (python/cpython#109829)
+        from . import _adapters
+
         opt_text = (
             self.read_text('METADATA')
             or self.read_text('PKG-INFO')
diff --git a/newsfragments/+.feature.rst b/newsfragments/+.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..26618684
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/+.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Deferred select imports in for speedup (python/cpython#109829).