diff --git a/Lib/optparse.py b/Lib/optparse.py
index cbe3451ced8bc37..96117a0f2205f47 100644
--- a/Lib/optparse.py
+++ b/Lib/optparse.py
@@ -74,7 +74,6 @@
 """
 
 import sys, os
-import textwrap
 from gettext import gettext as _, ngettext
 
 
@@ -254,6 +253,7 @@ def _format_text(self, text):
         """
         text_width = max(self.width - self.current_indent, 11)
         indent = " "*self.current_indent
+        import textwrap
         return textwrap.fill(text,
                              text_width,
                              initial_indent=indent,
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ def format_option(self, option):
         result.append(opts)
         if option.help:
             help_text = self.expand_default(option)
+            import textwrap
             help_lines = textwrap.wrap(help_text, self.help_width)
             result.append("%*s%s\n" % (indent_first, "", help_lines[0]))
             result.extend(["%*s%s\n" % (self.help_position, "", line)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-01-15-18-54-48.gh-issue-118761.G1dv6E.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-01-15-18-54-48.gh-issue-118761.G1dv6E.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..4144ef8f40e6dd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-01-15-18-54-48.gh-issue-118761.G1dv6E.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Reduce the import time of :mod:`optparse` when no help text is printed.
+Patch by Eli Schwartz.