diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9897aa91f1..d46b668f64 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   ([#5149](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/5149))
 - `opentelemetry-sdk`: only load entrypoints for resource detectors if they are configured via `OTEL_EXPERIMENTAL_RESOURCE_DETECTORS`
   ([#5145](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/5145))
+- `opentelemetry-api`: conditionallly import entrypoints for `opentelemetry_context` only if the `OTEL_PYTHON_CONTEXT` env variable is defined, return `ContextVarsRuntimeContext` otherwise
+  ([#5144](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/5144))
 
 ## Version 1.41.0/0.62b0 (2026-04-09)
 
diff --git a/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/context/__init__.py b/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/context/__init__.py
index 6518f03835..80174f66b5 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/context/__init__.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/context/__init__.py
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import logging
+import os
 from contextvars import Token
-from os import environ
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 # pylint: disable=wrong-import-position
 from opentelemetry.context.context import Context, _RuntimeContext  # noqa
+from opentelemetry.context.contextvars_context import ContextVarsRuntimeContext
 from opentelemetry.environment_variables import OTEL_PYTHON_CONTEXT
-from opentelemetry.util._importlib_metadata import entry_points
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -22,37 +22,29 @@ def _load_runtime_context() -> _RuntimeContext:
     Returns:
         An instance of RuntimeContext.
     """
+    configured_context = os.environ.get(OTEL_PYTHON_CONTEXT)
+    if not configured_context:
+        return ContextVarsRuntimeContext()
 
-    # FIXME use a better implementation of a configuration manager
-    # to avoid having to get configuration values straight from
-    # environment variables
-    default_context = "contextvars_context"
-
-    configured_context = environ.get(OTEL_PYTHON_CONTEXT, default_context)  # type: str
+    # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel,no-name-in-module
+    from opentelemetry.util._importlib_metadata import (  # noqa: PLC0415
+        entry_points,
+    )
 
     try:
-        return next(  # type: ignore
-            iter(  # type: ignore
-                entry_points(  # type: ignore
-                    group="opentelemetry_context",
-                    name=configured_context,
+        return next(
+            iter(
+                entry_points(
+                    group="opentelemetry_context", name=configured_context
                 )
             )
         ).load()()
     except Exception:  # pylint: disable=broad-exception-caught
         logger.exception(
-            "Failed to load context: %s, fallback to %s",
+            "Failed to load context: %s, falling back to contextvars_context",
             configured_context,
-            default_context,
         )
-        return next(  # type: ignore
-            iter(  # type: ignore
-                entry_points(  # type: ignore
-                    group="opentelemetry_context",
-                    name=default_context,
-                )
-            )
-        ).load()()
+        return ContextVarsRuntimeContext()
 
 
 _RUNTIME_CONTEXT = _load_runtime_context()