diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/job.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/job.py
index 79e9b83581243..3d397eb5490e4 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/job.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/job.py
@@ -42,7 +42,12 @@
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.pod_generator import PodGenerator, merge_objects
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.triggers.job import KubernetesJobTrigger
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.utils.pod_manager import EMPTY_XCOM_RESULT, PodNotFoundException
-from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import BaseOperator
+from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS
+
+if AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS:
+    from airflow.sdk import BaseOperator
+else:
+    from airflow.models import BaseOperator
 from airflow.utils import yaml
 from airflow.utils.context import Context
 
diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/kueue.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/kueue.py
index 718f93428cfe0..9dc88403c67d4 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/kueue.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/kueue.py
@@ -27,7 +27,12 @@
 from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.hooks.kubernetes import KubernetesHook
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.operators.job import KubernetesJobOperator
-from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import BaseOperator
+from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS
+
+if AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS:
+    from airflow.sdk import BaseOperator
+else:
+    from airflow.models import BaseOperator
 
 
 class KubernetesInstallKueueOperator(BaseOperator):
diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/pod.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/pod.py
index e550a4b73a916..d0f438b7d27f4 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/pod.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/pod.py
@@ -80,7 +80,12 @@
     container_is_succeeded,
     get_container_termination_message,
 )
-from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import XCOM_RETURN_KEY, BaseOperator
+from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS, XCOM_RETURN_KEY
+
+if AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS:
+    from airflow.sdk import BaseOperator
+else:
+    from airflow.models import BaseOperator
 from airflow.settings import pod_mutation_hook
 from airflow.utils import yaml
 from airflow.utils.helpers import prune_dict, validate_key
diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/resource.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/resource.py
index 65fd4d89d2d20..75fc79360c411 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/resource.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/operators/resource.py
@@ -32,7 +32,12 @@
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.kubernetes_helper_functions import should_retry_creation
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.utils.delete_from import delete_from_yaml
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.utils.k8s_resource_iterator import k8s_resource_iterator
-from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import BaseOperator
+from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS
+
+if AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS:
+    from airflow.sdk import BaseOperator
+else:
+    from airflow.models import BaseOperator
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from kubernetes.client import ApiClient, CustomObjectsApi
diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/sensors/spark_kubernetes.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/sensors/spark_kubernetes.py
index 48cb809a47c84..50e713e134a53 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/sensors/spark_kubernetes.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/sensors/spark_kubernetes.py
@@ -25,7 +25,12 @@
 
 from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException
 from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.hooks.kubernetes import KubernetesHook
-from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import BaseSensorOperator
+from airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.version_compat import AIRFLOW_V_3_0_PLUS
+
+if AIRFLOW_V_3_0_PLUS:
+    from airflow.sdk import BaseSensorOperator
+else:
+    from airflow.sensors.base import BaseSensorOperator  # type: ignore[no-redef]
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from airflow.utils.context import Context
diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/version_compat.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/version_compat.py
index da0c09bab59e4..812f1241781eb 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/version_compat.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/version_compat.py
@@ -37,16 +37,14 @@ def get_base_airflow_version_tuple() -> tuple[int, int, int]:
 
 if AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS:
     from airflow.models.xcom import XCOM_RETURN_KEY
-    from airflow.sdk import BaseHook, BaseOperator
+    from airflow.sdk import BaseHook
     from airflow.sdk.definitions.context import context_merge
 else:
     from airflow.hooks.base import BaseHook  # type: ignore[attr-defined,no-redef]
-    from airflow.models import BaseOperator
     from airflow.utils.context import context_merge  # type: ignore[attr-defined, no-redef]
     from airflow.utils.xcom import XCOM_RETURN_KEY  # type: ignore[no-redef]
 
 if AIRFLOW_V_3_0_PLUS:
-    from airflow.sdk import BaseSensorOperator
     from airflow.sdk.bases.decorator import DecoratedOperator, TaskDecorator, task_decorator_factory
 else:
     from airflow.decorators.base import (  # type: ignore[no-redef]
@@ -54,14 +52,14 @@ def get_base_airflow_version_tuple() -> tuple[int, int, int]:
         TaskDecorator,
         task_decorator_factory,
     )
-    from airflow.sensors.base import BaseSensorOperator  # type: ignore[no-redef]
+
+# BaseOperator and BaseSensorOperator removed from version_compat to avoid circular imports
+# Import them directly in files that need them instead
 
 __all__ = [
     "AIRFLOW_V_3_0_PLUS",
     "AIRFLOW_V_3_1_PLUS",
     "BaseHook",
-    "BaseOperator",
-    "BaseSensorOperator",
     "DecoratedOperator",
     "TaskDecorator",
     "task_decorator_factory",