diff --git a/shiny/render/_data_frame_utils/_html.py b/shiny/render/_data_frame_utils/_html.py
index d88307e33..1465827bc 100644
--- a/shiny/render/_data_frame_utils/_html.py
+++ b/shiny/render/_data_frame_utils/_html.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Literal, cast, overload
 
-from htmltools import TagNode, is_tag_node
+from htmltools import TagNode
 
 from ..._typing_extensions import TypeIs
 from ...types import Jsonifiable
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ def ui_must_be_processed(
 def ui_must_be_processed(  # pyright: ignore[reportInconsistentOverload]
     val: object,
 ):
+    from htmltools import is_tag_node
+
     if isinstance(val, str):
         return False