diff --git a/mlflow/data/__init__.py b/mlflow/data/__init__.py
index b5472f9dd1e29..368a4cbd5b084 100644
--- a/mlflow/data/__init__.py
+++ b/mlflow/data/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import sys
+from contextlib import suppress
 from typing import Union
 
-from mlflow.data import dataset_registry, meta_dataset
+from mlflow.data import dataset_registry
 from mlflow.data import sources as mlflow_data_sources
 from mlflow.data.dataset import Dataset
 from mlflow.data.dataset_source import DatasetSource
@@ -12,6 +13,10 @@
 from mlflow.protos.databricks_pb2 import INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE
 from mlflow.utils.annotations import experimental
 
+with suppress(ImportError):
+    # Suppressing ImportError to pass mlflow-skinny testing.
+    from mlflow.data import meta_dataset  # noqa: F401
+
 
 @experimental
 def get_source(dataset: Union[DatasetEntity, DatasetInput, Dataset]) -> DatasetSource:
@@ -47,7 +52,7 @@ def get_source(dataset: Union[DatasetEntity, DatasetInput, Dataset]) -> DatasetS
     return dataset_source
 
 
-__all__ = ["get_source", "meta_dataset"]
+__all__ = ["get_source"]
 
 
 def _define_dataset_constructors_in_current_module():
diff --git a/mlflow/data/meta_dataset.py b/mlflow/data/meta_dataset.py
index 877bf0658c3fc..cc8f97db042fd 100644
--- a/mlflow/data/meta_dataset.py
+++ b/mlflow/data/meta_dataset.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import json
 import hashlib
+import json
 from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 
 from mlflow.data.dataset import Dataset
diff --git a/mlflow/data/pandas_dataset.py b/mlflow/data/pandas_dataset.py
index 35f1f47521aaa..e56da90e91172 100644
--- a/mlflow/data/pandas_dataset.py
+++ b/mlflow/data/pandas_dataset.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def _compute_digest(self) -> str:
         """
         return compute_pandas_digest(self._df)
 
-    def _to_dict(self) -> Dict[str, str]:
+    def to_dict(self) -> Dict[str, str]:
         """Create config dictionary for the dataset."""
         schema = json.dumps({"mlflow_colspec": self.schema.to_dict()}) if self.schema else None
         config = super().to_dict()
diff --git a/tests/data/test_meta_dataset.py b/tests/data/test_meta_dataset.py
index 76ae2e6dc6757..8d7563cc1ed34 100644
--- a/tests/data/test_meta_dataset.py
+++ b/tests/data/test_meta_dataset.py
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 import json
+
 import pytest
 
-from mlflow.data.http_dataset_source import HTTPDatasetSource
 from mlflow.data.delta_dataset_source import DeltaDatasetSource
+from mlflow.data.http_dataset_source import HTTPDatasetSource
 from mlflow.data.huggingface_dataset_source import HuggingFaceDatasetSource
 from mlflow.data.meta_dataset import MetaDataset
-from mlflow.types.schema import Schema, ColSpec
 from mlflow.types import DataType
+from mlflow.types.schema import ColSpec, Schema
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ def test_create_meta_dataset_from_source(dataset_source_class, path):
     json_str = dataset.to_json()
     parsed_json = json.loads(json_str)
 
-    assert parsed_json["digest"] != None
+    assert parsed_json["digest"] is not None
     assert path in parsed_json["source"]
     assert parsed_json["source_type"] == dataset_source_class._get_source_type()
 
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ def test_create_meta_dataset_from_source_with_schema(dataset_source_class, path)
     json_str = dataset.to_json()
     parsed_json = json.loads(json_str)
 
-    assert parsed_json["digest"] != None
+    assert parsed_json["digest"] is not None
     assert path in parsed_json["source"]
     assert parsed_json["source_type"] == dataset_source_class._get_source_type()
     assert json.loads(parsed_json["schema"])["mlflow_colspec"] == schema.to_dict()