diff --git a/src/aiida/__init__.py b/src/aiida/__init__.py
index 75215240d7..6b3c627a55 100644
--- a/src/aiida/__init__.py
+++ b/src/aiida/__init__.py
@@ -19,8 +19,15 @@
 More information at http://www.aiida.net
 """
 
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
 from aiida.manage.configuration import load_profile
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from IPython.core.interactiveshell import InteractiveShell
+
 __copyright__ = (
     'Copyright (c), This file is part of the AiiDA platform. '
     'For further information please visit http://www.aiida.net/. All rights reserved.'
@@ -94,7 +101,7 @@ def get_file_header(comment_char: str = '# ') -> str:
     return '\n'.join(f'{comment_char}{line}' for line in lines)
 
 
-def load_ipython_extension(ipython):
+def load_ipython_extension(ipython: InteractiveShell):
     """Load the AiiDA IPython extension, using ``%load_ext aiida``."""
     from .tools.ipython.ipython_magics import AiiDALoaderMagics