diff --git a/internal/terraform/context_apply_deferred_test.go b/internal/terraform/context_apply_deferred_test.go
index bc88bb8561..c947541052 100644
--- a/internal/terraform/context_apply_deferred_test.go
+++ b/internal/terraform/context_apply_deferred_test.go
@@ -2025,6 +2025,63 @@ output "a" {
 			},
 		},
 	}
+
+	importDeferredTest = deferredActionsTest{
+		configs: map[string]string{
+			"main.tf": `
+variable "import_id" {
+    type = string
+}
+
+resource "test" "a" {
+    name = "a"
+}
+
+import {
+    id = var.import_id
+    to = test.a
+}
+`,
+		},
+		stages: []deferredActionsTestStage{
+			{
+				inputs: map[string]cty.Value{
+					"import_id": cty.StringVal("deferred"), // Telling the test case to defer the import
+				},
+				wantPlanned: map[string]cty.Value{
+					"a": cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+						"name":           cty.StringVal("a"),
+						"upstream_names": cty.NullVal(cty.Set(cty.String)),
+						"output":         cty.UnknownVal(cty.String),
+					}),
+				},
+				wantActions: make(map[string]plans.Action),
+				wantDeferred: map[string]ExpectedDeferred{
+					"test.a": {Reason: providers.DeferredReasonAbsentPrereq, Action: plans.NoOp},
+				},
+				wantApplied: make(map[string]cty.Value),
+				wantOutputs: make(map[string]cty.Value),
+				complete:    false,
+			},
+			{
+				inputs: map[string]cty.Value{
+					"import_id": cty.StringVal("can_be_imported"),
+				},
+				wantPlanned: map[string]cty.Value{
+					"a": cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+						"name":           cty.StringVal("a"),
+						"upstream_names": cty.NullVal(cty.Set(cty.String)),
+						"output":         cty.StringVal("can_be_imported"),
+					}),
+				},
+				wantActions: map[string]plans.Action{
+					"test.a": plans.Update,
+				},
+				wantDeferred: map[string]ExpectedDeferred{},
+				complete:     true,
+			},
+		},
+	}
 )
 
 func TestContextApply_deferredActions(t *testing.T) {
@@ -2050,6 +2107,7 @@ func TestContextApply_deferredActions(t *testing.T) {
 		"plan_force_replace_resource_change":                planForceReplaceResourceChange,
 		"plan_delete_resource_change":                       planDeleteResourceChange,
 		"plan_destroy_resource_change":                      planDestroyResourceChange,
+		"import_deferred":                                   importDeferredTest,
 	}
 
 	for name, test := range tests {
@@ -2345,7 +2403,7 @@ func (provider *deferredActionsProvider) Provider() providers.Interface {
 			}
 		},
 		ImportResourceStateFn: func(request providers.ImportResourceStateRequest) providers.ImportResourceStateResponse {
-			return providers.ImportResourceStateResponse{
+			resp := providers.ImportResourceStateResponse{
 				ImportedResources: []providers.ImportedResource{
 					{
 						TypeName: request.TypeName,
@@ -2357,6 +2415,13 @@ func (provider *deferredActionsProvider) Provider() providers.Interface {
 					},
 				},
 			}
+			if request.ID == "deferred" {
+				resp.Deferred = &providers.Deferred{
+					Reason: providers.DeferredReasonAbsentPrereq,
+				}
+			}
+
+			return resp
 		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/terraform/node_resource_plan_instance.go b/internal/terraform/node_resource_plan_instance.go
index 9a7b7c12fd..3a99f7e004 100644
--- a/internal/terraform/node_resource_plan_instance.go
+++ b/internal/terraform/node_resource_plan_instance.go
@@ -534,6 +534,9 @@ func (n *NodePlannableResourceInstance) importState(ctx EvalContext, addr addrs.
 		resp = provider.ImportResourceState(providers.ImportResourceStateRequest{
 			TypeName: addr.Resource.Resource.Type,
 			ID:       importId,
+			ClientCapabilities: providers.ClientCapabilities{
+				DeferralAllowed: ctx.Deferrals().DeferralAllowed(),
+			},
 		})
 	}
 	diags = diags.Append(resp.Diagnostics)
@@ -543,7 +546,7 @@ func (n *NodePlannableResourceInstance) importState(ctx EvalContext, addr addrs.
 
 	imported := resp.ImportedResources
 
-	if len(imported) == 0 {
+	if len(imported) == 0 && resp.Deferred == nil {
 		diags = diags.Append(tfdiags.Sourceless(
 			tfdiags.Error,
 			"Import returned no resources",
@@ -570,6 +573,22 @@ func (n *NodePlannableResourceInstance) importState(ctx EvalContext, addr addrs.
 		return nil, diags
 	}
 
+	// If the import was deferred we can't do more here
+	if resp.Deferred != nil {
+		ctx.Deferrals().ReportResourceInstanceDeferred(n.Addr, resp.Deferred.Reason, &plans.ResourceInstanceChange{
+			Addr: n.Addr,
+			Change: plans.Change{
+				Action: plans.NoOp,
+				Before: cty.UnknownVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+				After:  cty.UnknownVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+				Importing: &plans.Importing{
+					ID: importId,
+				},
+			},
+		})
+		return nil, diags
+	}
+
 	// call post-import hook
 	diags = diags.Append(ctx.Hook(func(h Hook) (HookAction, error) {
 		return h.PostPlanImport(hookResourceID, imported)
@@ -601,14 +620,15 @@ func (n *NodePlannableResourceInstance) importState(ctx EvalContext, addr addrs.
 		},
 		override: n.override,
 	}
-	instanceRefreshState, deferred, refreshDiags := riNode.refresh(ctx, states.NotDeposed, importedState)
+	instanceRefreshState, refreshDeferred, refreshDiags := riNode.refresh(ctx, states.NotDeposed, importedState)
 	diags = diags.Append(refreshDiags)
 	if diags.HasErrors() {
 		return instanceRefreshState, diags
 	}
 
-	if deferred != nil {
-		ctx.Deferrals().ReportResourceInstanceDeferred(n.Addr, deferred.Reason, &plans.ResourceInstanceChange{
+	// report the refresh was deferred, we don't need to error since the import step succeeded
+	if refreshDeferred != nil {
+		ctx.Deferrals().ReportResourceInstanceDeferred(n.Addr, refreshDeferred.Reason, &plans.ResourceInstanceChange{
 			Addr: n.Addr,
 			Change: plans.Change{
 				Action: plans.Read,
@@ -618,7 +638,7 @@ func (n *NodePlannableResourceInstance) importState(ctx EvalContext, addr addrs.
 	}
 
 	// verify the existence of the imported resource
-	if instanceRefreshState.Value.IsNull() && deferred == nil {
+	if instanceRefreshState.Value.IsNull() && refreshDeferred == nil {
 		var diags tfdiags.Diagnostics
 		diags = diags.Append(tfdiags.Sourceless(
 			tfdiags.Error,