diff --git a/wp-includes/meta.php b/wp-includes/meta.php
index 921c24c383..2b5ca02696 100644
--- a/wp-includes/meta.php
+++ b/wp-includes/meta.php
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
  * @subpackage Meta
  */
 
+require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/class-wp-metadata-lazyloader.php';
+
 /**
  * Adds metadata for the specified object.
  *
@@ -1214,9 +1216,6 @@ function wp_metadata_lazyloader() {
 	static $wp_metadata_lazyloader;
 
 	if ( null === $wp_metadata_lazyloader ) {
-		if ( ! class_exists( 'WP_Metadata_Lazyloader' ) ) {
-			require_once ABSPATH . WPINC . '/class-wp-metadata-lazyloader.php';
-		}
 		$wp_metadata_lazyloader = new WP_Metadata_Lazyloader();
 	}
 
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index 3d5ddff634..eb89eaa02e 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '6.3-alpha-55825';
+$wp_version = '6.3-alpha-55826';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.
diff --git a/wp-settings.php b/wp-settings.php
index 3763dd825f..6a7e809872 100644
--- a/wp-settings.php
+++ b/wp-settings.php
@@ -188,7 +188,6 @@ require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/user.php';
 require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/class-wp-user-query.php';
 require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/class-wp-session-tokens.php';
 require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/class-wp-user-meta-session-tokens.php';
-require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/class-wp-metadata-lazyloader.php';
 require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/general-template.php';
 require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/link-template.php';
 require ABSPATH . WPINC . '/author-template.php';