diff --git a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
index ac0969d3..9adcda55 100644
--- a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
@@ -9,6 +9,31 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+__lazy_modules__ = {
+    'contextlib',
+    'email',
+    f'{__name__}._collections',
+    f'{__name__}.compat',
+}
+"""
+Imports to defer until something first reads the name they bind (PEP 810).
+
+Honored by the interpreter from Python 3.15 and simply ignored before it.
+
+Only a name that no module-level statement reads belongs here. A class
+base, a decorator, or a class attribute is evaluated as this module's
+body runs, so deferring its imports would save nothing: that is what
+keeps ``pathlib``, ``re``, and ``textwrap`` off this list
+(python/importlib_metadata#554).
+
+A module that something else imports eagerly is also left off, however
+late this module reads it, so that the declaration promises only what it
+delivers. ``collections`` is the case to watch: ``typing`` imports it.
+
+Naming the package through ``__name__`` keeps the declaration identical
+in the stdlib, where this module is ``importlib.metadata``.
+"""
+
 import abc
 import collections
 import email
diff --git a/importlib_metadata/_compat/__init__.py b/importlib_metadata/_compat/__init__.py
index fe9a721e..8ca22668 100644
--- a/importlib_metadata/_compat/__init__.py
+++ b/importlib_metadata/_compat/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import platform
 import sys
 
 __all__ = ['NullFinder', 'install']
@@ -46,11 +45,15 @@ def find_spec(*args, **kwargs):
         return None
 
 
-def pypy_partial(val):
+def pypy_partial(val):  # pragma: no cover
     """
     Adjust for variable stacklevel on partial under PyPy.
 
     Workaround for #327.
     """
+    # the only reader of platform, and no longer called from anywhere, so
+    # don't make every import pay for it (#554)
+    import platform
+
     is_pypy = platform.python_implementation() == 'PyPy'
     return val + is_pypy
diff --git a/importlib_metadata/_compat/localize.py b/importlib_metadata/_compat/localize.py
index b08b4fbd..5f7a74da 100644
--- a/importlib_metadata/_compat/localize.py
+++ b/importlib_metadata/_compat/localize.py
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 
 import importlib_metadata
 
-from ..compat import py312
-
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     import email.message
     import importlib.metadata
@@ -55,10 +53,12 @@ def dist(
     if isinstance(dist, importlib_metadata.Distribution):
         return dist
 
-    # only a foreign dist gets this far, so defer the cost of the import
-    # (python/cpython#109829)
+    # only a foreign dist gets this far, so defer the cost of the imports
+    # (python/cpython#109829, #554)
     import importlib.metadata
 
+    from ..compat import py312
+
     if isinstance(dist, importlib.metadata.PathDistribution):
         return importlib_metadata.PathDistribution(cast('SimplePath', dist._path))
     # Warn on what the interface requires and the class omits, rather than
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ def unimplemented(dist) -> list[str]:
     """
     The members IDistribution requires that dist's class doesn't supply.
     """
+    # deferred for performance (#554)
+    from ..compat import py312
+
     required = py312.required(importlib_metadata.IDistribution)
     return sorted(attr for attr in required if not hasattr(type(dist), attr))
 
diff --git a/newsfragments/554.feature.rst b/newsfragments/554.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..88c2a531
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/554.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+Deferred the imports that no module-level statement reads, cutting the
+cost of ``import importlib_metadata`` by about 30% on Python 3.15 and 3
+to 8% on earlier Pythons.
+
+Python 3.15 honors the new ``__lazy_modules__`` declaration (PEP 810) and
+so defers ``contextlib``, ``email``, and two of the package's own modules;
+earlier Pythons ignore the declaration and keep importing them eagerly.
+The gain they do see comes from ``platform`` and ``compat.py312``, which
+moved into the functions that read them.
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index b03911a3..073c0b90 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 import io
 import pickle
 import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
 import unittest
 
 import pyfakefs.fake_filesystem_unittest as ffs
@@ -108,6 +110,35 @@ def test_resolve_without_attr(self):
         assert ep.load() is importlib_metadata
 
 
+class LazyImportTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    @unittest.skipIf(
+        sys.version_info < (3, 15),
+        'lazy imports (PEP 810) are honored from Python 3.15',
+    )
+    def test_declared_modules_stay_unloaded(self):
+        """
+        Importing the package loads none of the modules it defers.
+
+        Holds the rule that ``__lazy_modules__`` documents: a name some
+        module-level statement reads resolves as the body runs, so
+        declaring it would defer nothing.
+
+        Ref python/importlib_metadata#554.
+        """
+        script = (
+            'import sys; before = frozenset(sys.modules); '
+            'import importlib_metadata as md; '
+            'print(*sorted(md.__lazy_modules__ & (sys.modules.keys() - before)))'
+        )
+        proc = subprocess.run(
+            [sys.executable, '-c', script],
+            capture_output=True,
+            encoding='utf-8',
+            check=True,
+        )
+        assert not proc.stdout.split(), f'imported eagerly: {proc.stdout.strip()}'
+
+
 class NameNormalizationTests(fixtures.OnSysPath, fixtures.SiteDir, unittest.TestCase):
     @staticmethod
     def make_pkg(name):