diff --git a/src/lerobot/scripts/lerobot_annotate.py b/src/lerobot/scripts/lerobot_annotate.py
index 579175052..41fede908 100644
--- a/src/lerobot/scripts/lerobot_annotate.py
+++ b/src/lerobot/scripts/lerobot_annotate.py
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@ For distributed runs, see ``examples/annotations/run_hf_job.py``.
 """
 
 import logging
+from contextlib import suppress
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+from huggingface_hub import HfApi, snapshot_download
+from huggingface_hub.errors import RevisionNotFoundError
 
 from lerobot.annotations.steerable_pipeline.config import AnnotationPipelineConfig
 from lerobot.annotations.steerable_pipeline.executor import Executor
@@ -42,6 +47,12 @@ from lerobot.annotations.steerable_pipeline.validator import StagingValidator
 from lerobot.annotations.steerable_pipeline.vlm_client import make_vlm_client
 from lerobot.annotations.steerable_pipeline.writer import LanguageColumnsWriter
 from lerobot.configs import parser
+from lerobot.utils.import_utils import _datasets_available, require_package
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING or _datasets_available:
+    from lerobot.datasets.dataset_metadata import CODEBASE_VERSION
+    from lerobot.datasets.io_utils import load_info
+    from lerobot.datasets.utils import create_lerobot_dataset_card
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -50,8 +61,6 @@ def _resolve_root(cfg: AnnotationPipelineConfig) -> Path:
     if cfg.root is not None:
         return Path(cfg.root)
     if cfg.repo_id is not None:
-        from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
-
         return Path(snapshot_download(repo_id=cfg.repo_id, repo_type="dataset"))
     raise ValueError("Either --root or --repo_id must be provided.")
 
@@ -125,10 +134,7 @@ def _push_to_hub(root: Path, cfg: AnnotationPipelineConfig) -> None:
 
     Pushes to ``cfg.new_repo_id`` when set, otherwise back to ``cfg.repo_id``.
     """
-    from huggingface_hub import HfApi  # noqa: PLC0415
-
-    from lerobot.datasets.io_utils import load_info  # noqa: PLC0415
-    from lerobot.datasets.utils import create_lerobot_dataset_card  # noqa: PLC0415
+    require_package("datasets", "dataset")
 
     repo_id = cfg.new_repo_id or cfg.repo_id
     commit_message = cfg.push_commit_message or "Add steerable annotations (lerobot-annotate)"
@@ -163,8 +169,6 @@ def _push_to_hub(root: Path, cfg: AnnotationPipelineConfig) -> None:
     # ``RevisionNotFoundError``. Read the version straight from the
     # dataset's own ``meta/info.json`` so we tag whatever the writer
     # actually wrote (no accidental drift if the codebase floor moves).
-    from lerobot.datasets.dataset_metadata import CODEBASE_VERSION  # noqa: PLC0415
-
     version_tag = (
         dataset_info.codebase_version if dataset_info.codebase_version.startswith("v") else CODEBASE_VERSION
     )
@@ -178,10 +182,6 @@ def _push_to_hub(root: Path, cfg: AnnotationPipelineConfig) -> None:
         tag_kwargs["revision"] = revision
 
     try:
-        from contextlib import suppress  # noqa: PLC0415
-
-        from huggingface_hub.errors import RevisionNotFoundError  # noqa: PLC0415
-
         with suppress(RevisionNotFoundError):
             api.delete_tag(repo_id, tag=version_tag, repo_type="dataset")
         api.create_tag(**tag_kwargs)
diff --git a/tests/scripts/test_lerobot_annotate.py b/tests/scripts/test_lerobot_annotate.py
index 03f1ee104..b1db997e3 100644
--- a/tests/scripts/test_lerobot_annotate.py
+++ b/tests/scripts/test_lerobot_annotate.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import json
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 
 import pytest
+import requests
+from huggingface_hub.errors import RevisionNotFoundError
 
 # ``lerobot.scripts.lerobot_annotate`` (and the ``_push_to_hub`` path it
 # exercises) imports ``lerobot.datasets``, which only ships under the
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ pytest.importorskip("datasets", reason="datasets is required (install lerobot[da
 
 
 def test_push_to_hub_tags_uploaded_dataset_revision(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
-    from lerobot.scripts.lerobot_annotate import _push_to_hub
+    from lerobot.scripts import lerobot_annotate
 
     root = tmp_path / "dataset"
     (root / "meta").mkdir(parents=True)
@@ -45,9 +47,6 @@ def test_push_to_hub_tags_uploaded_dataset_revision(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
             return SimpleNamespace(oid="abc123")
 
         def delete_tag(self, repo_id, **kwargs):
-            import requests
-            from huggingface_hub.errors import RevisionNotFoundError
-
             calls["delete_tag"] = {"repo_id": repo_id, **kwargs}
             # Simulate the common case: no stale tag to delete.
             raise RevisionNotFoundError("no such tag", response=requests.Response())
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ def test_push_to_hub_tags_uploaded_dataset_revision(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         def create_tag(self, **kwargs):
             calls["create_tag"] = kwargs
 
-    monkeypatch.setattr("huggingface_hub.HfApi", FakeHfApi)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(lerobot_annotate, "HfApi", FakeHfApi)
 
     def fake_card_push(self, **kwargs):
         calls["card_push"] = {"content": str(self), **kwargs}
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ def test_push_to_hub_tags_uploaded_dataset_revision(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         push_commit_message=None,
     )
 
-    _push_to_hub(root, cfg)
+    lerobot_annotate._push_to_hub(root, cfg)
 
     assert calls["create_repo"] == {
         "repo_id": "annotated/dataset",