diff --git a/kitty/boss.py b/kitty/boss.py
index 3e4b5e2d8..0dfb8a6a0 100644
--- a/kitty/boss.py
+++ b/kitty/boss.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import atexit
 import json
 import os
 import re
-import socket
 from functools import partial
 from gettext import gettext as _
 from weakref import WeakValueDictionary
@@ -43,6 +42,7 @@ def initialize_renderer():
 
 
 def listen_on(spec):
+    import socket
     family, address, socket_path = parse_address_spec(spec)
     s = socket.socket(family)
     atexit.register(remove_socket_file, s, socket_path)
diff --git a/kitty/cli.py b/kitty/cli.py
index b1500a6a5..45689dc82 100644
--- a/kitty/cli.py
+++ b/kitty/cli.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 import os
 import re
-import subprocess
 import sys
 from collections import deque
 
@@ -349,6 +348,7 @@ def print_help_for_seq(seq, usage, message, appname):
 
     text = '\n'.join(blocks) + '\n\n' + version()
     if print_help_for_seq.allow_pager and sys.stdout.isatty():
+        import subprocess
         p = subprocess.Popen(['less', '-isRXF'], stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
         p.communicate(text.encode('utf-8'))
         raise SystemExit(p.wait())
@@ -577,6 +577,7 @@ def create_opts(args, debug_config=False):
         print(version(add_rev=True))
         print(' '.join(os.uname()))
         if is_macos:
+            import subprocess
             print(' '.join(subprocess.check_output(['sw_vers']).decode('utf-8').splitlines()).strip())
         else:
             print('Running under:', green('Wayland' if is_wayland else 'X11'))
diff --git a/kitty/config.py b/kitty/config.py
index 015cfefb2..63ebdf8f3 100644
--- a/kitty/config.py
+++ b/kitty/config.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import json
 import os
 import re
 import sys
-import tempfile
 from collections import namedtuple
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 
@@ -449,6 +448,7 @@ def build_ansi_color_table(opts=defaults):
 
 
 def atomic_save(data, path):
+    import tempfile
     fd, p = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=os.path.dirname(path), suffix='.tmp')
     try:
         with os.fdopen(fd, 'wb') as f:
diff --git a/kitty/remote_control.py b/kitty/remote_control.py
index 5198884c5..14b3b6617 100644
--- a/kitty/remote_control.py
+++ b/kitty/remote_control.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 import json
 import re
-import socket
 import sys
 import types
 from functools import partial
@@ -41,6 +40,7 @@ will only work if this process is run within an existing kitty window.
 
 
 def do_io(to, send, no_response):
+    import socket
     send = ('@kitty-cmd' + json.dumps(send)).encode('ascii')
     send = b'\x1bP' + send + b'\x1b\\'
     if to:
diff --git a/kitty/utils.py b/kitty/utils.py
index 723dacc3e..e39eececf 100644
--- a/kitty/utils.py
+++ b/kitty/utils.py
@@ -8,11 +8,8 @@ import fcntl
 import math
 import os
 import re
-import socket
 import string
-import subprocess
 import sys
-import tempfile
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from time import monotonic
 
@@ -121,6 +118,7 @@ def command_for_open(program='default'):
 
 
 def open_cmd(cmd, arg=None, cwd=None):
+    import subprocess
     if arg is not None:
         cmd = list(cmd)
         cmd.append(arg)
@@ -201,6 +199,8 @@ def remove_socket_file(s, path=None):
 
 
 def single_instance_unix(name):
+    import socket
+    import tempfile
     home = os.path.expanduser('~')
     candidates = [tempfile.gettempdir(), home]
     if is_macos:
@@ -239,6 +239,7 @@ def single_instance_unix(name):
 
 
 def single_instance(group_id=None):
+    import socket
     name = '{}-ipc-{}'.format(appname, os.geteuid())
     if group_id:
         name += '-{}'.format(group_id)
@@ -264,6 +265,7 @@ def single_instance(group_id=None):
 
 
 def parse_address_spec(spec):
+    import socket
     protocol, rest = spec.split(':', 1)
     socket_path = None
     if protocol == 'unix':