diff --git a/optimum/intel/openvino/loaders.py b/optimum/intel/openvino/loaders.py
index be0c03fb41..ea6c06e65d 100644
--- a/optimum/intel/openvino/loaders.py
+++ b/optimum/intel/openvino/loaders.py
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@
     DIFFUSERS_CACHE,
     HF_HUB_OFFLINE,
     _get_model_file,
-    is_safetensors_available,
 )
 
+from ..utils.import_utils import is_safetensors_available
+
 
 if is_safetensors_available():
     import safetensors
diff --git a/optimum/intel/utils/import_utils.py b/optimum/intel/utils/import_utils.py
index 36e2229174..e804353997 100644
--- a/optimum/intel/utils/import_utils.py
+++ b/optimum/intel/utils/import_utils.py
@@ -91,6 +91,14 @@
     except importlib_metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
         _diffusers_available = False
 
+_safetensors_version = "N/A"
+_safetensors_available = importlib.util.find_spec("safetensors") is not None
+if _safetensors_available:
+    try:
+        _safetensors_version = importlib_metadata.version("safetensors")
+    except importlib_metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
+        _safetensors_available = False
+
 
 def is_transformers_available():
     return _transformers_available
@@ -116,6 +124,10 @@ def is_diffusers_available():
     return _diffusers_available
 
 
+def is_safetensors_available():
+    return _safetensors_available
+
+
 # This function was copied from: https://github.com/huggingface/accelerate/blob/874c4967d94badd24f893064cc3bef45f57cadf7/src/accelerate/utils/versions.py#L319
 def compare_versions(library_or_version: Union[str, Version], operation: str, requirement_version: str):
     """