diff --git a/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py b/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py
index c8e59cac441..245f905737c 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 import posixpath
 import collections
 
-from . import _adapters, _meta
+from . import _meta
 from ._collections import FreezableDefaultDict, Pair
 from ._functools import method_cache, pass_none
 from ._itertools import always_iterable, unique_everseen
@@ -456,6 +456,9 @@ 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/Lib/importlib/resources/_common.py b/Lib/importlib/resources/_common.py
index a3902535342..e18082fb3d2 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/resources/_common.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/resources/_common.py
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@
 from typing import Union, Optional, cast
 from .abc import ResourceReader, Traversable
 
-from ._adapters import wrap_spec
-
 Package = Union[types.ModuleType, str]
 Anchor = Package
 
@@ -109,6 +107,9 @@ def from_package(package: types.ModuleType):
     Return a Traversable object for the given package.
 
     """
+    # deferred for performance (python/cpython#109829)
+    from ._adapters import wrap_spec
+
     spec = wrap_spec(package)
     reader = spec.loader.get_resource_reader(spec.name)
     return reader.files()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-03-20-23-07-58.gh-issue-109653.uu3lrX.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-03-20-23-07-58.gh-issue-109653.uu3lrX.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..38d7634b54c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-03-20-23-07-58.gh-issue-109653.uu3lrX.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Deferred select imports in importlib.metadata and importlib.resources for a
+14% speedup.