diff --git a/distributed/comm/registry.py b/distributed/comm/registry.py
index 15d9af51781..47ba730a7d9 100644
--- a/distributed/comm/registry.py
+++ b/distributed/comm/registry.py
@@ -4,9 +4,18 @@
 import sys
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from collections.abc import Iterable
+from typing import Protocol
+
+
+class _EntryPoints(Protocol):
+    def __call__(self, **kwargs: str) -> Iterable[importlib.metadata.EntryPoint]:
+        ...
+
 
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 10):
-    _entry_points = importlib.metadata.entry_points
+    # py3.10 importlib.metadata type annotations are not in mypy yet
+    # https://github.com/python/typeshed/pull/7331
+    _entry_points: _EntryPoints = importlib.metadata.entry_points  # type: ignore[assignment]
 else:
 
     def _entry_points(