diff --git a/src/pybind11_utils.h b/src/pybind11_utils.h
index 2e6e2ceec..5aae27694 100644
--- a/src/pybind11_utils.h
+++ b/src/pybind11_utils.h
@@ -28,39 +28,20 @@ inline py::handle InternedName(const char* value) {
   return py::handle{name};
 }
 
-inline py::handle DataPtrName() {
-  static const auto name{InternedName("data_ptr")};
-  return name;
-}
-
-inline py::handle ShapeName() {
-  static const auto name{InternedName("shape")};
-  return name;
-}
-
-inline py::handle DTypeName() {
-  static const auto name{InternedName("dtype")};
-  return name;
-}
-
-inline py::handle DeviceName() {
-  static const auto name{InternedName("device")};
-  return name;
-}
-
-inline py::handle TypeName() {
-  static const auto name{InternedName("type")};
-  return name;
-}
-
-inline py::handle IndexName() {
-  static const auto name{InternedName("index")};
-  return name;
-}
-
-inline py::handle StrideName() {
-  static const auto name{InternedName("stride")};
-  return name;
+struct InternedNames {
+  py::handle data_ptr{InternedName("data_ptr")};
+  py::handle shape{InternedName("shape")};
+  py::handle dtype{InternedName("dtype")};
+  py::handle device{InternedName("device")};
+  py::handle type{InternedName("type")};
+  py::handle index{InternedName("index")};
+  py::handle stride{InternedName("stride")};
+};
+
+inline const InternedNames& GetInternedNames() {
+  // Defer Python C API calls until conversion runs with an active interpreter.
+  static const InternedNames names;
+  return names;
 }
 
 inline py::object CallMethodNoArgs(py::handle obj, py::handle name) {
@@ -241,8 +222,9 @@ inline std::optional<Device::Type> TryDeviceTypeFromString(
 namespace detail {
 
 inline Device DeviceFromPybind11HandleImpl(py::handle obj) {
-  auto device_obj{py::getattr(obj, detail::DeviceName())};
-  auto device_type_obj{py::getattr(device_obj, detail::TypeName())};
+  const auto& names{GetInternedNames()};
+  auto device_obj{py::getattr(obj, names.device)};
+  auto device_type_obj{py::getattr(device_obj, names.type)};
   std::string device_type_storage;
   std::string_view device_type_str;
   if (PyUnicode_Check(device_type_obj.ptr())) {
@@ -256,7 +238,7 @@ inline Device DeviceFromPybind11HandleImpl(py::handle obj) {
     device_type_storage = device_type_obj.cast<std::string>();
     device_type_str = device_type_storage;
   }
-  auto device_index_obj{py::getattr(device_obj, detail::IndexName())};
+  auto device_index_obj{py::getattr(device_obj, names.index)};
   auto device_index{device_index_obj.is_none() ? 0
                                                : device_index_obj.cast<int>()};
 
@@ -264,20 +246,19 @@ inline Device DeviceFromPybind11HandleImpl(py::handle obj) {
 }
 
 inline Tensor TensorFromPybind11HandleImpl(py::handle obj) {
+  const auto& names{GetInternedNames()};
   auto data{reinterpret_cast<void*>(
-      detail::CallMethodNoArgs(obj, detail::DataPtrName())
-          .cast<std::uintptr_t>())};
+      detail::CallMethodNoArgs(obj, names.data_ptr).cast<std::uintptr_t>())};
 
   auto shape{detail::VectorFromSequence<typename Tensor::Shape>(
-      py::getattr(obj, detail::ShapeName()))};
+      py::getattr(obj, names.shape))};
 
-  auto dtype{
-      DataTypeFromPybind11HandleImpl(py::getattr(obj, detail::DTypeName()))};
+  auto dtype{DataTypeFromPybind11HandleImpl(py::getattr(obj, names.dtype))};
 
   auto device{DeviceFromPybind11HandleImpl(obj)};
 
   auto strides{detail::VectorFromSequence<typename Tensor::Strides>(
-      detail::CallMethodNoArgs(obj, detail::StrideName()))};
+      detail::CallMethodNoArgs(obj, names.stride))};
 
   return Tensor{data, std::move(shape), dtype, device, std::move(strides)};
 }