diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 451cfd6..b34e235 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ## HEAD (unreleased)
 
+- [Breaking] Lazy load DeadEnd internals only if there is a Syntax error. Use `require "dead_end"; require "dead_end/api"` to load eagerly all internals. Otherwise `require "dead_end"` will set up an autoload for the first time the DeadEnd module is used in code. This should only happen on a syntax error. (https://github.com/zombocom/dead_end/pull/142)
 - Monkeypatch `SyntaxError#detailed_message` in Ruby 3.2+ instead of `require`, `load`, and `require_relative` (https://github.com/zombocom/dead_end/pull/139)
 
 ## 3.1.2
diff --git a/dead_end.gemspec b/dead_end.gemspec
index 4268ea7..39bfb50 100644
--- a/dead_end.gemspec
+++ b/dead_end.gemspec
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ end
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.name = "dead_end"
-  spec.version = DeadEnd::VERSION
+  spec.version = UnloadedDeadEnd::VERSION
   spec.authors = ["schneems"]
   spec.email = ["richard.schneeman+foo@gmail.com"]
 
diff --git a/exe/dead_end b/exe/dead_end
index 9ae3301..db44d5d 100755
--- a/exe/dead_end
+++ b/exe/dead_end
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
-require_relative "../lib/dead_end"
+require_relative "../lib/dead_end/api"
 
 DeadEnd::Cli.new(
   argv: ARGV
diff --git a/lib/dead_end.rb b/lib/dead_end.rb
index 9b98b97..1467770 100644
--- a/lib/dead_end.rb
+++ b/lib/dead_end.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
-require_relative "dead_end/api"
 require_relative "dead_end/core_ext"
diff --git a/lib/dead_end/api.rb b/lib/dead_end/api.rb
index 683a0e4..4085af7 100644
--- a/lib/dead_end/api.rb
+++ b/lib/dead_end/api.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
 require_relative "version"
 
 require "tmpdir"
@@ -7,6 +9,8 @@
 require "timeout"
 
 module DeadEnd
+  VERSION = UnloadedDeadEnd::VERSION
+
   # Used to indicate a default value that cannot
   # be confused with another input.
   DEFAULT_VALUE = Object.new.freeze
diff --git a/lib/dead_end/core_ext.rb b/lib/dead_end/core_ext.rb
index 7a1fe6d..0fff205 100644
--- a/lib/dead_end/core_ext.rb
+++ b/lib/dead_end/core_ext.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
+# Allow lazy loading, only load code if/when there's a syntax error
+autoload :DeadEnd, "dead_end/api"
+
 # Ruby 3.2+ has a cleaner way to hook into Ruby that doesn't use `require`
 if SyntaxError.new.respond_to?(:detailed_message)
-  module DeadEnd
+  module DeadEndUnloaded
     class MiniStringIO
       def initialize(isatty: $stderr.isatty)
         @string = +""
@@ -10,7 +13,6 @@ def initialize(isatty: $stderr.isatty)
       end
 
       attr_reader :isatty
-
       def puts(value = $/, **)
         @string << value
       end
@@ -23,7 +25,7 @@ def puts(value = $/, **)
     def detailed_message(highlight: nil, **)
       message = super
       file = DeadEnd::PathnameFromMessage.new(message).call.name
-      io = DeadEnd::MiniStringIO.new
+      io = DeadEndUnloaded::MiniStringIO.new
 
       if file
         DeadEnd.call(
@@ -47,6 +49,8 @@ def detailed_message(highlight: nil, **)
     end
   }
 else
+  autoload :Pathname, "pathname"
+
   # Monkey patch kernel to ensure that all `require` calls call the same
   # method
   module Kernel
diff --git a/lib/dead_end/version.rb b/lib/dead_end/version.rb
index 9c6158c..9f80322 100644
--- a/lib/dead_end/version.rb
+++ b/lib/dead_end/version.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
-module DeadEnd
+# Calling `DeadEnd::VERSION` forces an eager load due to
+# an `autoload` on the `DeadEnd` constant.
+#
+# This is used for gemspec access in tests
+module UnloadedDeadEnd
   VERSION = "3.1.2"
 end
diff --git a/spec/integration/ruby_command_line_spec.rb b/spec/integration/ruby_command_line_spec.rb
index cbe6deb..7b779d5 100644
--- a/spec/integration/ruby_command_line_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/ruby_command_line_spec.rb
@@ -101,5 +101,50 @@ module DeadEnd
         expect(out).to include('❯  5    it "flerg"').once
       end
     end
+
+    it "does not load internals into memory if no syntax error" do
+      Dir.mktmpdir do |dir|
+        tmpdir = Pathname(dir)
+        script = tmpdir.join("script.rb")
+        script.write <<~EOM
+          class Dog
+          end
+
+          # When a constant is defined through an autoload
+          # then Object.autoload? will return the name of the
+          # require only until it has been loaded.
+          #
+          # We can use this to detect if DeadEnd internals
+          # have been fully loaded yet or not.
+          #
+          # Example:
+          #
+          #   Object.autoload?("Cat") # => nil
+          #   autoload :Cat, "animals/cat
+          #   Object.autoload?("Cat") # => "animals/cat
+          #   Object.autoload?("Cat") # => "animals/cat
+          #
+          #   # Once required, `autoload?` returns falsey
+          #   puts Cat.meow # invoke autoload
+          #   Object.autoload?("Cat") # => nil
+          #
+          if Object.autoload?("DeadEnd")
+            puts "DeadEnd is NOT loaded"
+          else
+            puts "DeadEnd is loaded"
+          end
+        EOM
+
+        require_rb = tmpdir.join("require.rb")
+        require_rb.write <<~EOM
+          load "#{script.expand_path}"
+        EOM
+
+        out = `ruby -I#{lib_dir} -rdead_end #{require_rb} 2>&1`
+
+        expect($?.success?).to be_truthy
+        expect(out).to include("DeadEnd is NOT loaded").once
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 2f002a3..31c3635 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 require "bundler/setup"
-require "dead_end"
+require "dead_end/api"
 
 require "benchmark"
 require "tempfile"