diff --git a/src/unitxt/metrics.py b/src/unitxt/metrics.py
index 33e4b033d1..0ce7a4d1b8 100644
--- a/src/unitxt/metrics.py
+++ b/src/unitxt/metrics.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
     Union,
 )
 
-import evaluate
 import numpy
 import numpy as np
 import pandas as pd
@@ -82,6 +81,8 @@
 
 @retry_connection_with_exponential_backoff(backoff_factor=2)
 def hf_evaluate_load(path: str, *args, **kwargs):
+    import evaluate
+
     if settings.hf_offline_metrics_path is not None:
         path = os.path.join(settings.hf_offline_metrics_path, path)
     return evaluate.load(