diff --git a/airbyte_cdk/cli/airbyte_cdk/_connector.py b/airbyte_cdk/cli/airbyte_cdk/_connector.py
index 17a8bb3822..249e58f308 100644
--- a/airbyte_cdk/cli/airbyte_cdk/_connector.py
+++ b/airbyte_cdk/cli/airbyte_cdk/_connector.py
@@ -45,8 +45,6 @@
 
 import rich_click as click
 
-from airbyte_cdk.test.standard_tests.util import create_connector_test_suite
-
 # from airbyte_cdk.test.standard_tests import pytest_hooks
 from airbyte_cdk.utils.connector_paths import (
     find_connector_root_from_name,
@@ -174,6 +172,9 @@ def run_connector_tests(
             "pytest is not installed. Please install pytest to run the connector tests."
         )
 
+    # Lazy import: this module requires pytest, which is only available via the [dev] extra.
+    from airbyte_cdk.test.standard_tests.util import create_connector_test_suite
+
     connector_test_suite = create_connector_test_suite(
         connector_name=connector_name if not connector_directory else None,
         connector_directory=connector_directory,