diff --git a/beets/autotag/hooks.py b/beets/autotag/hooks.py
index 780bbcc3a1..3fa80c6f35 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/hooks.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/hooks.py
@@ -17,18 +17,21 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import re
-from collections.abc import Iterable, Iterator
 from functools import total_ordering
-from typing import Any, Callable, NamedTuple, TypeVar, cast
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, NamedTuple, TypeVar, cast
 
 from jellyfish import levenshtein_distance
 from unidecode import unidecode
 
 from beets import config, logging, plugins
 from beets.autotag import mb
-from beets.library import Item
 from beets.util import as_string, cached_classproperty
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterable, Iterator
+
+    from beets.library import Item
+
 log = logging.getLogger("beets")
 
 V = TypeVar("V")
diff --git a/beets/autotag/match.py b/beets/autotag/match.py
index eac6ef44ce..d3d3c016fc 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/match.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/match.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 import re
 from collections.abc import Iterable, Sequence
 from enum import IntEnum
-from typing import Any, NamedTuple, TypeVar, Union, cast
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, NamedTuple, TypeVar, Union, cast
 
 from munkres import Munkres
 
@@ -35,9 +35,11 @@
     TrackMatch,
     hooks,
 )
-from beets.library import Item
 from beets.util import plurality
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from beets.library import Item
+
 # Artist signals that indicate "various artists". These are used at the
 # album level to determine whether a given release is likely a VA
 # release and also on the track level to to remove the penalty for
diff --git a/beets/dbcore/db.py b/beets/dbcore/db.py
index df2cbc0990..72bd9f2b47 100755
--- a/beets/dbcore/db.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/db.py
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 from collections.abc import Generator, Iterable, Iterator, Mapping, Sequence
 from sqlite3 import Connection
-from types import TracebackType
-from typing import Any, AnyStr, Callable, Generic, TypeVar, cast
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, AnyStr, Callable, Generic, TypeVar, cast
 
 from unidecode import unidecode
 
@@ -45,6 +44,9 @@
     TrueQuery,
 )
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from types import TracebackType
+
 
 class DBAccessError(Exception):
     """The SQLite database became inaccessible.
diff --git a/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py b/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py
index 5335d64c03..f71f9c25c8 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py
@@ -18,10 +18,14 @@
 
 import itertools
 import re
-from collections.abc import Collection, Sequence
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from . import Model, query
-from .query import Sort
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Collection, Sequence
+
+    from .query import Sort
 
 PARSE_QUERY_PART_REGEX = re.compile(
     # Non-capturing optional segment for the keyword.
diff --git a/beets/util/__init__.py b/beets/util/__init__.py
index a929a3f7f9..581e5cef76 100644
--- a/beets/util/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/util/__init__.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import tempfile
 import traceback
 from collections import Counter
-from collections.abc import Iterator, Sequence
 from contextlib import suppress
 from enum import Enum
 from importlib import import_module
@@ -50,6 +49,7 @@
 from beets.util import hidden
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterator, Sequence
     from logging import Logger
 
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 10):
diff --git a/beetsplug/autobpm.py b/beetsplug/autobpm.py
index 96eccfb7b8..9c953f7117 100644
--- a/beetsplug/autobpm.py
+++ b/beetsplug/autobpm.py
@@ -16,14 +16,17 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from collections.abc import Iterable
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import librosa
 
-from beets.importer import ImportTask
-from beets.library import Item, Library
 from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 from beets.ui import Subcommand, should_write
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from beets.importer import ImportTask
+    from beets.library import Item, Library
+
 
 class AutoBPMPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
     def __init__(self) -> None:
diff --git a/beetsplug/replaygain.py b/beetsplug/replaygain.py
index 964b6d0a3a..5ee9aa4869 100644
--- a/beetsplug/replaygain.py
+++ b/beetsplug/replaygain.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 import collections
 import enum
 import math
-import optparse
 import os
 import queue
 import signal
@@ -26,21 +25,25 @@
 import sys
 import warnings
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
-from collections.abc import Sequence
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from logging import Logger
 from multiprocessing.pool import ThreadPool
 from threading import Event, Thread
-from typing import Any, Callable, TypeVar, cast
-
-from confuse import ConfigView
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, TypeVar, cast
 
 from beets import ui
-from beets.importer import ImportSession, ImportTask
-from beets.library import Album, Item, Library
 from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 from beets.util import command_output, displayable_path, syspath
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import optparse
+    from collections.abc import Sequence
+    from logging import Logger
+
+    from confuse import ConfigView
+
+    from beets.importer import ImportSession, ImportTask
+    from beets.library import Album, Item, Library
+
 # Utilities.
 
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c91b01820a..126b97de4b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ select = [
     "PT", # flake8-pytest-style
     # "RUF", # ruff
     # "UP", # pyupgrade
+    "TCH", # flake8-type-checking
     "W", # pycodestyle
 ]
 [tool.ruff.lint.per-file-ignores]
diff --git a/test/plugins/test_hook.py b/test/plugins/test_hook.py
index d9de152838..993b95911a 100644
--- a/test/plugins/test_hook.py
+++ b/test/plugins/test_hook.py
@@ -18,13 +18,15 @@
 import os.path
 import sys
 import unittest
-from collections.abc import Iterator
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from typing import Callable
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Callable
 
 from beets import plugins
 from beets.test.helper import PluginTestCase, capture_log
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterator
+
 
 class HookTestCase(PluginTestCase):
     plugin = "hook"