diff --git a/src/npe2/manifest/contributions/_readers.py b/src/npe2/manifest/contributions/_readers.py
index 76dca6d2..ba4fdfec 100644
--- a/src/npe2/manifest/contributions/_readers.py
+++ b/src/npe2/manifest/contributions/_readers.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 from functools import wraps
-from typing import List, Optional
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, List, Optional
 
-from npe2._command_registry import CommandRegistry
 from npe2._pydantic_compat import Extra, Field
 from npe2.manifest.utils import Executable, v2_to_v1
 from npe2.types import ReaderFunction
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from npe2._command_registry import CommandRegistry
+
 
 class ReaderContribution(Executable[Optional[ReaderFunction]]):
     """Contribute a file reader.
@@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ def exec(
         self,
         args: tuple = (),
         kwargs: Optional[dict] = None,
-        _registry: Optional[CommandRegistry] = None,
+        _registry: Optional["CommandRegistry"] = None,
     ):
         """
         We are trying to simplify internal npe2 logic to always deal with a