diff --git a/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py b/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py
index b294a9f75e..a40b2c6efd 100644
--- a/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py
+++ b/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 import warnings
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
 
-from fsspec.implementations.asyn_wrapper import AsyncFileSystemWrapper
-
 from zarr.abc.store import ByteRangeRequest, Store
 from zarr.storage._common import _dereference_path
 
@@ -169,7 +167,16 @@ def from_url(
 
         fs, path = url_to_fs(url, **opts)
         if not fs.async_impl:
-            fs = AsyncFileSystemWrapper(fs)
+            try:
+                from fsspec.implementations.asyn_wrapper import AsyncFileSystemWrapper
+
+                fs = AsyncFileSystemWrapper(fs)
+            except ImportError as e:
+                raise ImportError(
+                    f"The filesystem for URL '{url}' is synchronous, and the required "
+                    "AsyncFileSystemWrapper is not available. Upgrade fsspec to version "
+                    "2024.12.0 or later to enable this functionality."
+                ) from e
 
         # fsspec is not consistent about removing the scheme from the path, so check and strip it here
         # https://github.com/fsspec/filesystem_spec/issues/1722