diff --git a/src/hatch/index/core.py b/src/hatch/index/core.py
index 1fa70713a..c5a231bae 100644
--- a/src/hatch/index/core.py
+++ b/src/hatch/index/core.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from functools import cached_property
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-import httpx
 import hyperlink
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import httpx
+
     from hatch.utils.fs import Path
 
 
@@ -33,17 +35,26 @@ def __init__(self, repo: str, *, user='', auth='', ca_cert=None, client_cert=Non
         self.user = user
         self.auth = auth
 
-        cert = None
+        self.__cert = None
         if client_cert:
-            cert = client_cert
+            self.__cert = client_cert
             if client_key:
-                cert = (client_cert, client_key)
+                self.__cert = (client_cert, client_key)
 
-        verify = True
+        self.__verify = True
         if ca_cert:
-            verify = ca_cert
+            self.__verify = ca_cert
+
+    @cached_property
+    def client(self) -> httpx.Client:
+        import httpx
 
-        self.client = httpx.Client(timeout=10, transport=httpx.HTTPTransport(retries=3, verify=verify, cert=cert))
+        from hatch.utils.network import DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
+
+        return httpx.Client(
+            transport=httpx.HTTPTransport(retries=3, verify=self.__verify, cert=self.__cert),
+            timeout=DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+        )
 
     def upload_artifact(self, artifact: Path, data: dict):
         import hashlib
diff --git a/src/hatch/template/default.py b/src/hatch/template/default.py
index 7463a2d80..71acb3e97 100644
--- a/src/hatch/template/default.py
+++ b/src/hatch/template/default.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def initialize_config(self, config):
                 url = f'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spdx/license-list-data/v{VERSION}/text/{license_file_name}'
                 for _ in range(5):
                     try:
-                        download_file(cached_license_path, url, timeout=2)
+                        download_file(cached_license_path, url)
                     except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001, S112
                         continue
                     else:
diff --git a/src/hatch/utils/network.py b/src/hatch/utils/network.py
index 1bbb52ff4..b4131e13a 100644
--- a/src/hatch/utils/network.py
+++ b/src/hatch/utils/network.py
@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@
 
 import time
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from secrets import choice
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Generator
 
-import httpx
-
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import httpx
+
     from hatch.utils.fs import Path
 
 MINIMUM_SLEEP = 2
@@ -20,6 +19,10 @@
 
 @contextmanager
 def streaming_response(*args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Generator[httpx.Response, None, None]:
+    from secrets import choice
+
+    import httpx
+
     attempts = 0
     while True:
         attempts += 1
diff --git a/tests/index/test_core.py b/tests/index/test_core.py
index 20cda4280..9f6b32c1a 100644
--- a/tests/index/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/index/test_core.py
@@ -41,24 +41,28 @@ def test_project(self, repo_url, expected_url):
 class TestTLS:
     def test_default(self, mocker):
         mock = mocker.patch('httpx._transports.default.create_ssl_context')
-        _ = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/')
+        index = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/')
+        _ = index.client
 
         mock.assert_called_once_with(verify=True, cert=None, trust_env=True)
 
     def test_ca_cert(self, mocker):
         mock = mocker.patch('httpx._transports.default.create_ssl_context')
-        _ = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/', ca_cert='foo')
+        index = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/', ca_cert='foo')
+        _ = index.client
 
         mock.assert_called_once_with(verify='foo', cert=None, trust_env=True)
 
     def test_client_cert(self, mocker):
         mock = mocker.patch('httpx._transports.default.create_ssl_context')
-        _ = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/', client_cert='foo')
+        index = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/', client_cert='foo')
+        _ = index.client
 
         mock.assert_called_once_with(verify=True, cert='foo', trust_env=True)
 
     def test_client_cert_with_key(self, mocker):
         mock = mocker.patch('httpx._transports.default.create_ssl_context')
-        _ = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/', client_cert='foo', client_key='bar')
+        index = PackageIndex('https://foo.internal/a/b/', client_cert='foo', client_key='bar')
+        _ = index.client
 
         mock.assert_called_once_with(verify=True, cert=('foo', 'bar'), trust_env=True)