diff --git a/.github/system_tests/test_verdi_load_time.sh b/.github/system_tests/test_verdi_load_time.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 07e8772eb..000000000
--- a/.github/system_tests/test_verdi_load_time.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-set -e
-
-# Test the loading time of `verdi`. This is and attempt to catch changes to the imports in `aiida.cmdline` that will
-# indirectly load the `aiida.orm` module which will trigger loading of the backend environment. This slows down `verdi`
-# significantly, making tab-completion unusable.
-VERDI=`which verdi`
-
-# Typically, the loading time of `verdi` should be around ~0.2 seconds. When loading the database environment this
-# tends to go towards ~0.8 seconds. Since these timings are obviously machine and environment dependent, typically these
-# types of tests are fragile. But with a load limit of more than twice the ideal loading time, if exceeded, should give
-# a reasonably sure indication that the loading of `verdi` is unacceptably slowed down.
-LOAD_LIMIT=0.4
-MAX_NUMBER_ATTEMPTS=5
-
-iteration=0
-
-while true; do
-
-    iteration=$((iteration+1))
-    load_time=$(/usr/bin/time -q -f "%e" $VERDI 2>&1 > /dev/null)
-
-    if (( $(echo "$load_time < $LOAD_LIMIT" | bc -l) )); then
-        echo "SUCCESS: loading time $load_time at iteration $iteration below $LOAD_LIMIT"
-        break
-    else
-        echo "WARNING: loading time $load_time at iteration $iteration above $LOAD_LIMIT"
-
-        if [ $iteration -eq $MAX_NUMBER_ATTEMPTS ]; then
-            echo "ERROR: loading time exceeded the load limit $iteration consecutive times."
-            echo "ERROR: please check that 'aiida.cmdline' does not import 'aiida.orm' at module level, even indirectly"
-            echo "ERROR: also, the database backend environment should not be loaded."
-            exit 2
-        fi
-    fi
-
-done
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-code.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-code.yml
index b93f0a4da..da5d99530 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-code.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-code.yml
@@ -148,4 +148,5 @@ jobs:
     - name: Run verdi
       run: |
         verdi devel check-load-time
+        verdi devel check-undesired-imports
         .github/workflows/verdi.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/verdi.sh b/.github/workflows/verdi.sh
index ac9ecda4b..11bf8d2c0 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/verdi.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/verdi.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ VERDI=`which verdi`
 # tends to go towards ~0.8 seconds. Since these timings are obviously machine and environment dependent, typically these
 # types of tests are fragile. But with a load limit of more than twice the ideal loading time, if exceeded, should give
 # a reasonably sure indication that the loading of `verdi` is unacceptably slowed down.
-LOAD_LIMIT=0.5
+LOAD_LIMIT=0.4
 MAX_NUMBER_ATTEMPTS=5
 
 iteration=0
@@ -35,10 +35,6 @@ while true; do
 
 done
 
-$VERDI devel check-load-time
-$VERDI devel check-undesired-imports
-
-
 # Test that we can also run the CLI via `python -m aiida`,
 # that it returns a 0 exit code, and contains the expected stdout.
 echo "Invoking verdi via `python -m aiida`"
diff --git a/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_devel.py b/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_devel.py
index 0f24dfd72..ccd4be4cf 100644
--- a/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_devel.py
+++ b/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_devel.py
@@ -65,7 +65,10 @@ def devel_check_undesired_imports():
     """
     loaded_modules = 0
 
-    for modulename in ['seekpath', 'CifFile', 'ase', 'pymatgen', 'spglib', 'pymysql']:
+    for modulename in [
+        'asyncio', 'requests', 'plumpy', 'disk_objectstore', 'paramiko', 'seekpath', 'CifFile', 'ase', 'pymatgen',
+        'spglib', 'pymysql'
+    ]:
         if modulename in sys.modules:
             echo.echo_warning(f'Detected loaded module "{modulename}"')
             loaded_modules += 1
diff --git a/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_rabbitmq.py b/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_rabbitmq.py
index ece4893df..000176928 100644
--- a/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_rabbitmq.py
+++ b/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_rabbitmq.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 import typing as t
 
 import click
-import requests
 import tabulate
 import wrapt
 import yaml
@@ -27,6 +26,7 @@
 
 if t.TYPE_CHECKING:
     import kiwipy.rmq
+    import requests
 
     from aiida.manage.configuration.profile import Profile
 
@@ -91,12 +91,13 @@ def cmd_tasks():
 )
 
 
-def echo_response(response: requests.Response, exit_on_error: bool = True) -> None:
+def echo_response(response: 'requests.Response', exit_on_error: bool = True) -> None:
     """Echo the response of a request.
 
     :param response: The response to the request.
     :param exit_on_error: Boolean, if ``True``, call ``sys.exit`` with the status code of the response.
     """
+    import requests
     try:
         response.raise_for_status()
     except requests.HTTPError:
diff --git a/aiida/manage/__init__.py b/aiida/manage/__init__.py
index 2f41729cc..a958f61b6 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/__init__.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/__init__.py
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
     'Option',
     'Postgres',
     'PostgresConnectionMode',
-    'ProcessLauncher',
     'Profile',
     'RabbitmqManagementClient',
     'check_and_migrate_config',
diff --git a/aiida/manage/configuration/config.py b/aiida/manage/configuration/config.py
index f4b3f1347..2ff0ebc22 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/configuration/config.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/configuration/config.py
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 import tempfile
 from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, Sequence, Tuple
 
-import jsonschema
-
 from aiida.common.exceptions import ConfigurationError
 
 from . import schema as schema_module
@@ -126,6 +124,7 @@ def _backup(cls, filepath):
     @staticmethod
     def validate(config: dict, filepath: Optional[str] = None):
         """Validate a configuration dictionary."""
+        import jsonschema
         try:
             jsonschema.validate(instance=config, schema=config_schema())
         except jsonschema.ValidationError as error:
diff --git a/aiida/manage/configuration/options.py b/aiida/manage/configuration/options.py
index f41f6f328..977964260 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/configuration/options.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/configuration/options.py
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
 """Definition of known configuration options and methods to parse and get option values."""
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Tuple
 
-import jsonschema
-
 from aiida.common.exceptions import ConfigurationError
 
 __all__ = ('get_option', 'get_option_names', 'parse_option', 'Option')
@@ -64,6 +62,8 @@ def validate(self, value: Any, cast: bool = True) -> Any:
 
         """
         # pylint: disable=too-many-branches
+        import jsonschema
+
         from aiida.manage.caching import _validate_identifier_pattern
 
         from .config import ConfigValidationError
diff --git a/aiida/manage/external/__init__.py b/aiida/manage/external/__init__.py
index d5ebc58bb..c77310935 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/external/__init__.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/external/__init__.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
     'ManagementApiConnectionError',
     'Postgres',
     'PostgresConnectionMode',
-    'ProcessLauncher',
     'RabbitmqManagementClient',
     'get_launch_queue_name',
     'get_message_exchange_name',
diff --git a/aiida/manage/external/rmq/__init__.py b/aiida/manage/external/rmq/__init__.py
index 503173d81..1af41bff0 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/external/rmq/__init__.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/external/rmq/__init__.py
@@ -16,13 +16,11 @@
 
 from .client import *
 from .defaults import *
-from .launcher import *
 from .utils import *
 
 __all__ = (
     'BROKER_DEFAULTS',
     'ManagementApiConnectionError',
-    'ProcessLauncher',
     'RabbitmqManagementClient',
     'get_launch_queue_name',
     'get_message_exchange_name',
diff --git a/aiida/manage/external/rmq/client.py b/aiida/manage/external/rmq/client.py
index 3c0938b7a..e56fb5945 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/external/rmq/client.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/external/rmq/client.py
@@ -5,10 +5,11 @@
 import typing as t
 from urllib.parse import quote
 
-import requests
-
 from aiida.common.exceptions import AiidaException
 
+if t.TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import requests
+
 __all__ = ('RabbitmqManagementClient', 'ManagementApiConnectionError')
 
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ def __init__(self, username: str, password: str, hostname: str, virtual_host: st
         :param hostname: The hostname of the RabbitMQ server.
         :param virtual_host: The virtual host.
         """
+        import requests
         self._username = username
         self._password = password
         self._hostname = hostname
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ def request(
         url_params: dict[str, str] | None = None,
         method: str = 'GET',
         params: dict[str, t.Any] | None = None,
-    ) -> requests.Response:
+    ) -> 'requests.Response':
         """Make a request.
 
         :param url: The resource path with placeholders, e.g., ``queues/{virtual_host}/{queue}``.
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@ def request(
         :returns: The response of the request.
         :raises `ManagementApiConnectionError`: If connection to the API cannot be made.
         """
+        import requests
         url = self.format_url(url, url_params)
         try:
             return requests.request(method, url, auth=self._authentication, params=params or {}, timeout=5)
diff --git a/aiida/manage/external/rmq/launcher.py b/aiida/manage/external/rmq/launcher.py
index 29acd584a..aa89b016f 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/external/rmq/launcher.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/external/rmq/launcher.py
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-__all__ = ('ProcessLauncher',)
-
 
 class ProcessLauncher(plumpy.ProcessLauncher):
     """A sub class of :class:`plumpy.ProcessLauncher` to launch a ``Process``.
diff --git a/aiida/manage/manager.py b/aiida/manage/manager.py
index 9bb862cd6..e63a6d3f8 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/manager.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/manager.py
@@ -9,11 +9,12 @@
 ###########################################################################
 # pylint: disable=cyclic-import
 """AiiDA manager for global settings"""
-import asyncio
 import functools
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Optional, Union
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import asyncio
+
     from kiwipy.rmq import RmqThreadCommunicator
     from plumpy.process_comms import RemoteProcessThreadController
 
@@ -416,7 +417,7 @@ def create_runner(self, with_persistence: bool = True, **kwargs: Any) -> 'Runner
 
         return runners.Runner(**settings)
 
-    def create_daemon_runner(self, loop: Optional[asyncio.AbstractEventLoop] = None) -> 'Runner':
+    def create_daemon_runner(self, loop: Optional['asyncio.AbstractEventLoop'] = None) -> 'Runner':
         """Create and return a new daemon runner.
 
         This is used by workers when the daemon is running and in testing.
@@ -429,13 +430,13 @@ def create_daemon_runner(self, loop: Optional[asyncio.AbstractEventLoop] = None)
         from plumpy.persistence import LoadSaveContext
 
         from aiida.engine import persistence
-        from aiida.manage.external import rmq
+        from aiida.manage.external.rmq.launcher import ProcessLauncher
 
         runner = self.create_runner(rmq_submit=True, loop=loop)
         runner_loop = runner.loop
 
         # Listen for incoming launch requests
-        task_receiver = rmq.ProcessLauncher(
+        task_receiver = ProcessLauncher(
             loop=runner_loop,
             persister=self.get_persister(),
             load_context=LoadSaveContext(runner=runner),
diff --git a/aiida/repository/backend/disk_object_store.py b/aiida/repository/backend/disk_object_store.py
index 121767405..dc7325275 100644
--- a/aiida/repository/backend/disk_object_store.py
+++ b/aiida/repository/backend/disk_object_store.py
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@
 import shutil
 import typing as t
 
-from disk_objectstore import Container
-
 from aiida.common.lang import type_check
 from aiida.storage.log import STORAGE_LOGGER
 
 from .abstract import AbstractRepositoryBackend
 
+if t.TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from disk_objectstore import Container  # pylint: disable=unused-import
+
 __all__ = ('DiskObjectStoreRepositoryBackend',)
 
 BYTES_TO_MB = 1 / 1024**2
@@ -30,7 +31,9 @@ class DiskObjectStoreRepositoryBackend(AbstractRepositoryBackend):
 
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, container: Container):
+    def __init__(self, container: 'Container'):
+        if not t.TYPE_CHECKING:
+            from disk_objectstore import Container  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
         type_check(container, Container)
         self._container = container
 
diff --git a/aiida/storage/psql_dos/backend.py b/aiida/storage/psql_dos/backend.py
index 50b6af6ed..1af3fa56f 100644
--- a/aiida/storage/psql_dos/backend.py
+++ b/aiida/storage/psql_dos/backend.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 import pathlib
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Iterator, List, Optional, Sequence, Set, Union
 
-from disk_objectstore import Container
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Session, scoped_session, sessionmaker
 
 from aiida.common.exceptions import ClosedStorage, ConfigurationError, IntegrityError
@@ -29,6 +28,8 @@
 from .orm import authinfos, comments, computers, convert, groups, logs, nodes, querybuilder, users
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from disk_objectstore import Container
+
     from aiida.repository.backend import DiskObjectStoreRepositoryBackend
 
 __all__ = ('PsqlDosBackend',)
@@ -195,7 +196,10 @@ def _clear(self) -> None:
                 )
 
     def get_repository(self) -> 'DiskObjectStoreRepositoryBackend':
+        from disk_objectstore import Container
+
         from aiida.repository.backend import DiskObjectStoreRepositoryBackend
+
         container = Container(str(get_filepath_container(self.profile)))
         return DiskObjectStoreRepositoryBackend(container=container)
 
diff --git a/aiida/storage/psql_dos/migrator.py b/aiida/storage/psql_dos/migrator.py
index cc5e11efa..b15d8e6d5 100644
--- a/aiida/storage/psql_dos/migrator.py
+++ b/aiida/storage/psql_dos/migrator.py
@@ -19,14 +19,13 @@
 
 import contextlib
 import pathlib
-from typing import Any, Dict, Iterator, Optional
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Dict, Iterator, Optional
 
 from alembic.command import downgrade, upgrade
 from alembic.config import Config
 from alembic.runtime.environment import EnvironmentContext
 from alembic.runtime.migration import MigrationContext, MigrationInfo
 from alembic.script import ScriptDirectory
-from disk_objectstore import Container
 from sqlalchemy import MetaData, String, column, desc, insert, inspect, select, table
 from sqlalchemy.exc import OperationalError, ProgrammingError
 from sqlalchemy.ext.automap import automap_base
@@ -38,6 +37,9 @@
 from aiida.storage.psql_dos.models.settings import DbSetting
 from aiida.storage.psql_dos.utils import create_sqlalchemy_engine
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from disk_objectstore import Container
+
 TEMPLATE_LEGACY_DJANGO_SCHEMA = """
 Database schema is using the legacy Django schema.
 To migrate the database schema version to the current one, run the following command:
@@ -175,12 +177,15 @@ def validate_storage(self) -> None:
                 f'but the disk-objectstore\'s is {repository_uuid}.'
             )
 
-    def get_container(self) -> Container:
+    def get_container(self) -> 'Container':
         """Return the disk-object store container.
 
         :returns: The disk-object store container configured for the repository path of the current profile.
         """
+        from disk_objectstore import Container
+
         from .backend import get_filepath_container
+
         return Container(get_filepath_container(self.profile))
 
     def get_repository_uuid(self) -> str:
diff --git a/aiida/transports/plugins/ssh.py b/aiida/transports/plugins/ssh.py
index e8a3325a6..8a810fec3 100644
--- a/aiida/transports/plugins/ssh.py
+++ b/aiida/transports/plugins/ssh.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 from stat import S_ISDIR, S_ISREG
 
 import click
-import paramiko
 
 from aiida.cmdline.params import options
 from aiida.cmdline.params.types.path import AbsolutePathOrEmptyParamType
@@ -36,6 +35,8 @@ def parse_sshconfig(computername):
 
     :param computername: the computer name for which we want the configuration.
     """
+    import paramiko
+
     config = paramiko.SSHConfig()
     try:
         with open(os.path.expanduser('~/.ssh/config'), encoding='utf8') as fhandle:
@@ -397,6 +398,8 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         function (as port, username, password, ...); taken from the
         accepted paramiko.SSHClient.connect() params.
         """
+        import paramiko
+
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
         self._sftp = None
@@ -440,6 +443,7 @@ def open(self):  # pylint: disable=too-many-branches,too-many-statements
 
         :raise aiida.common.InvalidOperation: if the channel is already open
         """
+        import paramiko
         from paramiko.ssh_exception import SSHException
 
         from aiida.common.exceptions import InvalidOperation