diff --git a/inflect/__init__.py b/inflect/__init__.py
index 361f46e..3eec27f 100644
--- a/inflect/__init__.py
+++ b/inflect/__init__.py
@@ -79,11 +79,8 @@
 
 from more_itertools import windowed_complete
 from typeguard import typechecked
-try:
-    # Python 3.9+
-    from typing import Annotated
-except ImportError:
-    from typing_extensions import Annotated
+
+from .compat.py38 import Annotated
 
 
 class UnknownClassicalModeError(Exception):
diff --git a/inflect/compat/__init__.py b/inflect/compat/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/inflect/compat/py38.py b/inflect/compat/py38.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2d01bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inflect/compat/py38.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import sys
+
+
+if sys.version_info > (3, 9):
+    from typing import Annotated
+else:  # pragma: no cover
+    from typing_extensions import Annotated  # noqa: F401