diff --git a/docs/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.md b/docs/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.md
index 3df92a8f..61128366 100644
--- a/docs/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.md
+++ b/docs/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.md
@@ -132,6 +132,9 @@
 
 - Added [sqruff](https://github.com/quarylabs/sqruff) support to `languages.sql`
 
+- Lazy-load `crates.nvim` plugin when using
+  `vim.languages.rust.extensions.crates-nvim.enable`
+
 - Added [Pyrefly](https://pyrefly.org/) and [zuban](https://zubanls.com/)
   support to `languages.python`
 
diff --git a/modules/plugins/languages/rust.nix b/modules/plugins/languages/rust.nix
index 015b2956..ec5a3d81 100644
--- a/modules/plugins/languages/rust.nix
+++ b/modules/plugins/languages/rust.nix
@@ -228,10 +228,17 @@ in {
     (mkIf cfg.extensions.crates-nvim.enable {
       vim = mkMerge [
         {
-          startPlugins = ["crates-nvim"];
-          pluginRC.rust-crates = entryAnywhere ''
-            require("crates").setup(${toLuaObject cfg.extensions.crates-nvim.setupOpts})
-          '';
+          lazy.plugins.crates-nvim = {
+            package = "crates-nvim";
+            setupModule = "crates";
+            setupOpts = cfg.extensions.crates-nvim.setupOpts;
+            event = [
+              {
+                event = "BufRead";
+                pattern = "Cargo.toml";
+              }
+            ];
+          };
         }
       ];
     })