diff --git a/arraycontext/impl/pytato/__init__.py b/arraycontext/impl/pytato/__init__.py
index 68f4856e1926c2c9d9126e2d313129e3baf0e207..80803957e840b19e9f03bef85caa7b6a3d020dd9 100644
--- a/arraycontext/impl/pytato/__init__.py
+++ b/arraycontext/impl/pytato/__init__.py
@@ -55,12 +55,14 @@ class PytatoPyOpenCLArrayContext(ArrayContext):
         super().__init__()
         self.queue = queue
         self.allocator = allocator
-        from arraycontext.impl.pytato.fake_numpy import PytatoFakeNumpyNamespace
-        self.np = PytatoFakeNumpyNamespace(self)
 
         # unused, but necessary to keep the context alive
         self.context = self.queue.context
 
+    def _get_fake_numpy_namespace(self):
+        from arraycontext.impl.pytato.fake_numpy import PytatoFakeNumpyNamespace
+        return PytatoFakeNumpyNamespace(self)
+
     # {{{ ArrayContext interface
 
     def clone(self):