The demand importer functionality isn't working at all on Python 3.5.
I'm not sure what's wrong.
Since it isn't working, let's disable it completely.
$ HGRCPATH= hyperfine -w 1 -r 50 -- "~/.pyenv/versions/3.5.9/bin/python ./hg version" \ "HGDEMANDIMPORT=disable ~/.pyenv/versions/3.5.9/bin/python ./hg version" Benchmark #1: ~/.pyenv/versions/3.5.9/bin/python ./hg version Time (mean ± σ): 163.7 ms ± 2.2 ms [User: 148.5 ms, System: 15.7 ms] Range (min … max): 161.0 ms … 170.2 ms 50 runs Benchmark #2: HGDEMANDIMPORT=disable ~/.pyenv/versions/3.5.9/bin/python ./hg version Time (mean ± σ): 164.3 ms ± 1.4 ms [User: 148.2 ms, System: 16.6 ms] Range (min … max): 161.4 ms … 169.8 ms 50 runs