diff --git a/src/speaches/routers/vad.py b/src/speaches/routers/vad.py
index f1a5afe..764fb78 100644
--- a/src/speaches/routers/vad.py
+++ b/src/speaches/routers/vad.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import logging
-from typing import Annotated
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Annotated
 
 from fastapi import (
     APIRouter,
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 
 from speaches.dependencies import AudioFileDependency  # noqa: TC001
-from speaches.model_aliases import ModelId
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from speaches.model_aliases import ModelId
 
 # NOTE: this should match the default value in `decode_audio` which gets called by `AudioFileDependency`
 SAMPLE_RATE = 16000