diff --git a/sqlmesh/utils/date.py b/sqlmesh/utils/date.py
index bdc15125d4..5358719abe 100644
--- a/sqlmesh/utils/date.py
+++ b/sqlmesh/utils/date.py
@@ -344,6 +344,8 @@ def make_exclusive(time: TimeLike) -> datetime:
 
 
 def make_ts_exclusive(time: TimeLike, dialect: DialectType) -> datetime:
+    import pandas as pd
+
     ts = to_datetime(time)
     if dialect == "tsql":
         return to_utc_timestamp(ts) - pd.Timedelta(1, unit="ns")
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_date.py b/tests/utils/test_date.py
index cb35a6973c..bbd5bdf63a 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_date.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_date.py
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@
     is_categorical_relative_expression,
     is_relative,
     make_inclusive,
+    make_ts_exclusive,
     to_datetime,
     to_time_column,
     to_timestamp,
     to_ts,
     to_tstz,
+    to_utc_timestamp,
 )
 
 
@@ -141,6 +143,17 @@ def test_make_inclusive_tsql(start_in, end_in, start_out, end_out, dialect) -> N
     )
 
 
+def test_make_ts_exclusive() -> None:
+    # tsql subtracts 1ns from the UTC timestamp; must not raise NameError (pd not imported)
+    assert make_ts_exclusive("2020-01-01 12:00:00", dialect="tsql") == to_utc_timestamp(
+        to_datetime("2020-01-01 12:00:00")
+    ) - pd.Timedelta(1, unit="ns")
+    # non-tsql dialects add 1 microsecond
+    assert make_ts_exclusive("2020-01-01 12:00:00", dialect="duckdb") == to_datetime(
+        "2020-01-01 12:00:00.000001"
+    )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "expression, result",
     [