diff --git a/.github/workflows/octokit.yml b/.github/workflows/octokit.yml
index c931902ea..d81a79938 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/octokit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/octokit.yml
@@ -56,3 +56,9 @@ jobs:
           GITHUB_CI: 1
           RUBYOPT: --enable-frozen-string-literal
         run: bundle exec rspec -w
+      - name: Test with RSpec in lazy-loaded mode
+        env:
+          GITHUB_CI: 1
+          RUBYOPT: --enable-frozen-string-literal
+          OCTOKIT_REQUIRE: octokit/lazy
+        run: bundle exec rspec -w
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index da391776d..ed944d75e 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -42,4 +42,4 @@ group :test, :development do
   gem 'rubocop'
 end
 
-gemspec
+gemspec require: false
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d4570878f..3e2a48d8d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ client.readme 'al3x/sovereign', :accept => 'application/vnd.github.html'
 
 ## Installation
 
-Install via Rubygems
+Install via RubyGems
 
     gem install octokit
 
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ Access the library in Ruby:
 
     require 'octokit'
 
+To speed up the boot of your application, you can `require 'octokit/lazy'` which will lazy-load required code as you use it, rather than requiring everything at once. You may also need to configure this in your `Gemfile` like this:
+
+    gem "octokit", "~> 4.0", require: "octokit/lazy"
+
 ## Making requests
 
 [API methods][] are available as client instance methods.
diff --git a/lib/octokit.rb b/lib/octokit.rb
index b27e3257b..5afbd51b7 100644
--- a/lib/octokit.rb
+++ b/lib/octokit.rb
@@ -3,56 +3,9 @@
 require 'octokit/enterprise_admin_client'
 require 'octokit/enterprise_management_console_client'
 
-# Ruby toolkit for the GitHub API
-module Octokit
-  class << self
-    include Octokit::Configurable
-
-    # API client based on configured options {Configurable}
-    #
-    # @return [Octokit::Client] API wrapper
-    def client
-      return @client if defined?(@client) && @client.same_options?(options)
-      @client = Octokit::Client.new(options)
-    end
-
-    # EnterpriseAdminClient client based on configured options {Configurable}
-    #
-    # @return [Octokit::EnterpriseAdminClient] API wrapper
-    def enterprise_admin_client
-      return @enterprise_admin_client if defined?(@enterprise_admin_client) && @enterprise_admin_client.same_options?(options)
-      @enterprise_admin_client = Octokit::EnterpriseAdminClient.new(options)
-    end
-
-    # EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient client based on configured options {Configurable}
-    #
-    # @return [Octokit::EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient] API wrapper
-    def enterprise_management_console_client
-      return @enterprise_management_console_client if defined?(@enterprise_management_console_client) && @enterprise_management_console_client.same_options?(options)
-      @enterprise_management_console_client = Octokit::EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient.new(options)
-    end
-
-    private
-
-    def respond_to_missing?(method_name, include_private=false)
-      client.respond_to?(method_name, include_private) ||
-      enterprise_admin_client.respond_to?(method_name, include_private) ||
-      enterprise_management_console_client.respond_to?(method_name, include_private)
-    end
-
-    def method_missing(method_name, *args, &block)
-      if client.respond_to?(method_name)
-        return client.send(method_name, *args, &block)
-      elsif enterprise_admin_client.respond_to?(method_name)
-        return enterprise_admin_client.send(method_name, *args, &block)
-      elsif enterprise_management_console_client.respond_to?(method_name)
-        return enterprise_management_console_client.send(method_name, *args, &block)
-      end
-
-      super
-    end
-
-  end
-end
-
-Octokit.setup
+# We have already required `Client`, `EnterpriseAdminClient` and
+# `EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient` above, so the `autoload` declaration in `lib/octokit/base.rb`
+# won't do anything. This is the default for Octokit, and leads to a simpler and more reliable
+# user experience, even if it makes booting your app a little slower compared to the lazy-loaded
+# experience you get if you call `require 'octokit/lazy'`.
+require 'octokit/base'
diff --git a/lib/octokit/base.rb b/lib/octokit/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aa993b8fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/octokit/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# Ruby toolkit for the GitHub API
+#
+# NOTE: The `Octokit` module is defined here, rather than in `lib/octokit.rb`, to allow
+# the gem to include a lazy-loaded version where dependencies are required as needed,
+# as well as a default where everything is required together.
+module Octokit
+  # These autoload statements won't do anything if the module has already been loaded, as
+  # will happen if the gem is required in the normal, automatic way. They will only come
+  # into affect if the user requires `octokit/lazy`.
+  autoload(:Client, File.join(__dir__, 'client'))
+  autoload(:EnterpriseAdminClient, File.join(__dir__, 'enterprise_admin_client'))
+  autoload(:EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient, File.join(__dir__, 'enterprise_management_console_client'))
+
+  class << self
+    include Octokit::Configurable
+    
+    # API client based on configured options {Configurable}
+    #
+    # @return [Octokit::Client] API wrapper
+    def client
+      return @client if defined?(@client) && @client.same_options?(options)
+      @client = Octokit::Client.new(options)
+    end
+    
+    # EnterpriseAdminClient client based on configured options {Configurable}
+    #
+    # @return [Octokit::EnterpriseAdminClient] API wrapper
+    def enterprise_admin_client
+      return @enterprise_admin_client if defined?(@enterprise_admin_client) && @enterprise_admin_client.same_options?(options)
+      @enterprise_admin_client = Octokit::EnterpriseAdminClient.new(options)
+    end
+    
+    # EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient client based on configured options {Configurable}
+    #
+    # @return [Octokit::EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient] API wrapper
+    def enterprise_management_console_client
+      return @enterprise_management_console_client if defined?(@enterprise_management_console_client) && @enterprise_management_console_client.same_options?(options)
+      @enterprise_management_console_client = Octokit::EnterpriseManagementConsoleClient.new(options)
+    end
+    
+    private
+    
+    def respond_to_missing?(method_name, include_private=false)
+      client.respond_to?(method_name, include_private) ||
+      enterprise_admin_client.respond_to?(method_name, include_private) ||
+      enterprise_management_console_client.respond_to?(method_name, include_private)
+    end
+    
+    def method_missing(method_name, *args, &block)
+      if client.respond_to?(method_name)
+        return client.send(method_name, *args, &block)
+      elsif enterprise_admin_client.respond_to?(method_name)
+        return enterprise_admin_client.send(method_name, *args, &block)
+      elsif enterprise_management_console_client.respond_to?(method_name)
+        return enterprise_management_console_client.send(method_name, *args, &block)
+      end
+      
+      super
+    end
+    
+  end
+end
+
+Octokit.setup
diff --git a/lib/octokit/lazy.rb b/lib/octokit/lazy.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a7a7408fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/octokit/lazy.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+require 'octokit/default'
+require 'octokit/configurable'
+require 'octokit/base'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/helper.rb b/spec/helper.rb
index c41399e8f..7fa05b447 100644
--- a/spec/helper.rb
+++ b/spec/helper.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,14 @@
 end
 
 require 'json'
-require 'octokit'
+
+# This allows us to use the `OCTOKIT_REQUIRE` environment variable to switch in our
+# tests between requiring all of Octokit (`require 'octokit'`) and using the lazy-
+# loaded version (`require 'octokit/lazy'`).
+octokit_require = ENV.fetch('OCTOKIT_REQUIRE', 'octokit')
+require octokit_require
+
+require 'faraday'
 require 'rspec'
 require 'webmock/rspec'
 require 'base64'