diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0642aa8..72ae124 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog].
 
+## Unreleased
+### Bugs fixed
+* The autoloading logic was a bit wrong and would lead to `el-patch`
+  itself being loaded, just from activating the autoloads. This has
+  been fixed, so now activating the autoloads does just that, and
+  `el-patch` itself is only loaded when you actually use an autoloaded
+  function.
+
 ## 3.1.1 (released 2025-08-15)
 ### Bugs fixed
 * Using `el-patch-literal` could result in incorrect patch generation
diff --git a/el-patch-stub.el b/el-patch-stub.el
index da1a905..0a229fd 100644
--- a/el-patch-stub.el
+++ b/el-patch-stub.el
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@
 This temporary replacement for the real functionality just takes
 care of the `declare' forms, and leaves everything else for
 later."
-  (unless (fboundp 'el-patch-deftype)
+  (when (autoloadp (symbol-function 'el-patch-deftype))
+    (put 'el-patch-deftype 'orig-function (symbol-function 'el-patch-deftype))
     (defmacro el-patch-deftype (type &rest kwargs)
       (let ((name (intern (format "el-patch-%S" type)))
             (props (plist-get kwargs :declare)))
@@ -37,6 +38,13 @@ later."
            (put ',name 'doc-string-elt ',(alist-get 'doc-string props))
            (put ',name 'lisp-indent-function ',(alist-get 'indent props)))))))
 
+(defun el-patch--deftype-stub-teardown ()
+  "Reset `el-patch-deftype' back to its original value, if needed.
+This cleans up for `el-patch--deftype-stub-setup'."
+  (when-let ((orig (get 'el-patch-deftype 'orig-function)))
+    (fset 'el-patch-deftype orig)
+    (put 'el-patch-deftype 'orig-function nil)))
+
 (provide 'el-patch-stub)
 
 ;; Local Variables:
diff --git a/el-patch.el b/el-patch.el
index 64a471f..e4ffa56 100644
--- a/el-patch.el
+++ b/el-patch.el
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ patch."
 
 ;;;; Internal variables
 
+;;;###autoload
 (defvar el-patch-variant nil
   "Advanced variable for defining patch variants.
 This variable may be used to define multiple different patches
@@ -884,6 +885,8 @@ DEFINITION is a list starting with `defun' or similar."
   :declare ((doc-string 3)
             (indent defun)))
 
+;;;###autoload(el-patch--deftype-stub-teardown)
+
 ;;;; Validating patches
 
 (defcustom el-patch-pre-validate-hook nil