diff --git a/python/pyarrow/pandas_compat.py b/python/pyarrow/pandas_compat.py
index 935f495d7c8..91b38b8426c 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/pandas_compat.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/pandas_compat.py
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 
 import ast
 from collections.abc import Sequence
+from concurrent import futures
+# import threading submodule upfront to avoid partially initialized
+# module bug (ARROW-11983)
+import concurrent.futures.thread  # noqa
 from copy import deepcopy
 from itertools import zip_longest
 import json
@@ -590,8 +594,6 @@ def _can_definitely_zero_copy(arr):
         arrays = [convert_column(c, f)
                   for c, f in zip(columns_to_convert, convert_fields)]
     else:
-        from concurrent import futures
-
         arrays = []
         with futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(nthreads) as executor:
             for c, f in zip(columns_to_convert, convert_fields):