diff --git a/Lib/secrets.py b/Lib/secrets.py
index 566a09b7311154..8766c5728fd6a0 100644
--- a/Lib/secrets.py
+++ b/Lib/secrets.py
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@
            ]
 
 
-import base64
-
 from hmac import compare_digest
 from random import SystemRandom
 
@@ -67,5 +65,7 @@ def token_urlsafe(nbytes=None):
     'Drmhze6EPcv0fN_81Bj-nA'
 
     """
+    import base64
+
     tok = token_bytes(nbytes)
     return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(tok).rstrip(b'=').decode('ascii')
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-01-10-12-19-42.gh-issue-118761.i4yXe3.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-01-10-12-19-42.gh-issue-118761.i4yXe3.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..4b7aee6c5b8253
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-01-10-12-19-42.gh-issue-118761.i4yXe3.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Improve import time of :mod:`secrets` by a factor two. This is achieved by
+importing :mod:`base64` on demand. Patch by Bénédikt Tran.