diff --git a/python/datafusion/__init__.py b/python/datafusion/__init__.py
index 4f40b208..3470bc39 100644
--- a/python/datafusion/__init__.py
+++ b/python/datafusion/__init__.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 from .catalog import Catalog, Database, Table
 
 # The following imports are okay to remain as opaque to the user.
-from ._internal import Config, LogicalPlan, ExecutionPlan, runtime
+from ._internal import Config, LogicalPlan, ExecutionPlan
 
 from .record_batch import RecordBatchStream, RecordBatch
 
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@
     "literal",
     "lit",
     "DFSchema",
-    "runtime",
     "Catalog",
     "Database",
     "Table",
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 98821833..0b57e099 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ pub mod utils;
 static GLOBAL: MiMalloc = MiMalloc;
 
 // Used to define Tokio Runtime as a Python module attribute
-#[pyclass]
 pub(crate) struct TokioRuntime(tokio::runtime::Runtime);
 
 /// Low-level DataFusion internal package.
@@ -75,11 +74,6 @@ pub(crate) struct TokioRuntime(tokio::runtime::Runtime);
 /// datafusion directory.
 #[pymodule]
 fn _internal(py: Python, m: Bound<'_, PyModule>) -> PyResult<()> {
-    // Register the Tokio Runtime as a module attribute so we can reuse it
-    m.add(
-        "runtime",
-        TokioRuntime(tokio::runtime::Runtime::new().unwrap()),
-    )?;
     // Register the python classes
     m.add_class::<catalog::PyCatalog>()?;
     m.add_class::<catalog::PyDatabase>()?;