diff --git a/ultraplot/__init__.py b/ultraplot/__init__.py
index 2a2db3bd..8d597545 100644
--- a/ultraplot/__init__.py
+++ b/ultraplot/__init__.py
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
 from . import internals, externals, tests  # noqa: F401
 from .internals.benchmarks import _benchmark
 
-with _benchmark("pyplot"):
-    from matplotlib import pyplot  # noqa: F401
+# Defer pyplot import - it's the biggest import time bottleneck
+# It will be imported lazily in ui.py when needed
 with _benchmark("cartopy"):
     try:
         import cartopy  # noqa: F401
@@ -115,3 +115,13 @@
 
 if rc["ultraplot.check_for_latest_version"]:
     check_for_update("ultraplot")
+
+
+# Lazy pyplot access for backward compatibility
+def __getattr__(name):
+    """Lazy load pyplot when accessed as ultraplot.pyplot."""
+    if name == "pyplot":
+        from .ui import _get_pyplot
+
+        return _get_pyplot()
+    raise AttributeError(f"module '{__name__}' has no attribute '{name}'")
diff --git a/ultraplot/axes/plot.py b/ultraplot/axes/plot.py
index 9364fd0b..7099ef31 100644
--- a/ultraplot/axes/plot.py
+++ b/ultraplot/axes/plot.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import matplotlib.lines as mlines
 import matplotlib.patches as mpatches
 import matplotlib.ticker as mticker
-import matplotlib.pyplot as mplt
 import matplotlib as mpl
 from packaging import version
 import numpy as np
@@ -387,25 +386,20 @@
 docstring._snippet_manager["plot.cycle"] = _cycle_docstring
 docstring._snippet_manager["plot.cmap_norm"] = _cmap_norm_docstring
 
+
+# Log plot docstrings - built without importing pyplot
 _log_doc = """
 Plot {kind}
 
 UltraPlot is optimized for visualizing logarithmic scales by default. For cases with large differences in magnitude,
 we recommend setting `rc["formatter.log"] = True` to enhance axis label formatting.
-{matplotlib_doc}
-"""
-
-docstring._snippet_manager["plot.loglog"] = _log_doc.format(
-    kind="loglog", matplotlib_doc=mplt.loglog.__doc__
-)
 
-docstring._snippet_manager["plot.semilogy"] = _log_doc.format(
-    kind="semilogy", matplotlib_doc=mplt.semilogy.__doc__
-)
+See matplotlib.pyplot.{kind} for more details.
+"""
 
-docstring._snippet_manager["plot.semilogx"] = _log_doc.format(
-    kind="semilogx", matplotlib_doc=mplt.semilogx.__doc__
-)
+docstring._snippet_manager["plot.loglog"] = _log_doc.format(kind="loglog")
+docstring._snippet_manager["plot.semilogy"] = _log_doc.format(kind="semilogy")
+docstring._snippet_manager["plot.semilogx"] = _log_doc.format(kind="semilogx")
 
 # Levels docstrings
 # NOTE: In some functions we only need some components
diff --git a/ultraplot/ui.py b/ultraplot/ui.py
index 7fb66334..e1f8b089 100644
--- a/ultraplot/ui.py
+++ b/ultraplot/ui.py
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 """
 The starting point for creating ultraplot figures.
 """
-import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-
 from . import axes as paxes
 from . import figure as pfigure
 from . import gridspec as pgridspec
@@ -20,8 +18,31 @@
     "ion",
     "ioff",
     "isinteractive",
+    # Note: pyplot is NOT in __all__ to prevent eager loading during star import
+    # It's accessible via __getattr__ for lazy loading: import ultraplot as uplt; uplt.pyplot
 ]
 
+# Lazy pyplot import
+_plt = None
+
+
+def _get_pyplot():
+    """Get matplotlib.pyplot, importing it lazily on first use."""
+    global _plt
+    if _plt is None:
+        import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+        _plt = plt
+    return _plt
+
+
+# Make pyplot accessible at module level
+def __getattr__(name):
+    """Lazy load pyplot when accessed as module attribute."""
+    if name == "pyplot":
+        return _get_pyplot()
+    raise AttributeError(f"module '{__name__}' has no attribute '{name}'")
+
 
 # Docstrings
 _pyplot_docstring = """
@@ -58,6 +79,7 @@ def show(*args, **kwargs):
     *args, **kwargs
         Passed to `matplotlib.pyplot.show`.
     """
+    plt = _get_pyplot()
     return plt.show(*args, **kwargs)
 
 
@@ -72,6 +94,7 @@ def close(*args, **kwargs):
     *args, **kwargs
         Passed to `matplotlib.pyplot.close`.
     """
+    plt = _get_pyplot()
     return plt.close(*args, **kwargs)
 
 
@@ -86,6 +109,7 @@ def switch_backend(*args, **kwargs):
     *args, **kwargs
         Passed to `matplotlib.pyplot.switch_backend`.
     """
+    plt = _get_pyplot()
     return plt.switch_backend(*args, **kwargs)
 
 
@@ -95,6 +119,7 @@ def ion():
     Call `matplotlib.pyplot.ion`.
     %(ui.pyplot)s
     """
+    plt = _get_pyplot()
     return plt.ion()
 
 
@@ -104,6 +129,7 @@ def ioff():
     Call `matplotlib.pyplot.ioff`.
     %(ui.pyplot)s
     """
+    plt = _get_pyplot()
     return plt.ioff()
 
 
@@ -113,6 +139,7 @@ def isinteractive():
     Call `matplotlib.pyplot.isinteractive`.
     %(ui.pyplot)s
     """
+    plt = _get_pyplot()
     return plt.isinteractive()
 
 
@@ -141,6 +168,7 @@ def figure(**kwargs):
     matplotlib.figure.Figure
     """
     _parse_figsize(kwargs)
+    plt = _get_pyplot()
     return plt.figure(FigureClass=pfigure.Figure, **kwargs)