diff --git a/cuda_core/cuda/core/system/_system.pyx b/cuda_core/cuda/core/system/_system.pyx
index 2a6c8ffc23d..183f022aafb 100644
--- a/cuda_core/cuda/core/system/_system.pyx
+++ b/cuda_core/cuda/core/system/_system.pyx
@@ -47,11 +47,17 @@ else:
 if CUDA_BINDINGS_NVML_IS_COMPATIBLE:
     try:
         from cuda.bindings import nvml
+        # _nvml_context imports cuda.bindings.nvml itself, so it has to be
+        # inside the same try: importing it after nvml failed would raise the
+        # very ImportError this block exists to absorb.
+        from cuda.core.system._nvml_context import initialize
     except ImportError:
         CUDA_BINDINGS_NVML_IS_COMPATIBLE = False
 
-    from cuda.core.system._nvml_context import initialize
-else:
+# Deliberately a second `if`, not an `else` on the one above: the flag can be
+# cleared by the import that just failed, and the non-NVML fallbacks are
+# exactly what every consumer below reaches for once it is False.
+if not CUDA_BINDINGS_NVML_IS_COMPATIBLE:
     from cuda.core._utils.cuda_utils import driver, handle_return, runtime
 
 
diff --git a/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst b/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst
index 120d2c2a253..d82ad7e2b2d 100644
--- a/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst
+++ b/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst
@@ -73,6 +73,14 @@ Fixes and enhancements
   Windows, both ``ctypes.CFUNCTYPE`` and ``ctypes.WINFUNCTYPE`` are accepted.
   (`#2439 <https://github.com/NVIDIA/cuda-python/issues/2439>`__)
 
+- ``cuda.core.system`` now really does fall back to its non-NVML
+  implementations when ``cuda.bindings.nvml`` cannot be imported. The
+  ``except ImportError`` cleared ``CUDA_BINDINGS_NVML_IS_COMPATIBLE``, but the
+  ``else`` that binds ``driver`` / ``handle_return`` / ``runtime`` hung off the
+  outer ``if``, which had already been evaluated, and the unconditional
+  ``_nvml_context`` import that followed pulls in ``cuda.bindings.nvml``
+  itself -- so ``import cuda.core.system`` raised instead of degrading.
+
 Deprecation Notices
 -------------------
 
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/system/test_system_system.py b/cuda_core/tests/system/test_system_system.py
index 28173836ff4..14eeefe3743 100644
--- a/cuda_core/tests/system/test_system_system.py
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/system/test_system_system.py
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 
 
 import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
 
 import pytest
 from cuda_python_test_helpers.arch_check import skip_if_nvml_unsupported
@@ -80,3 +82,44 @@ def test_get_driver_branch():
     driver_branch = system.get_driver_branch()
     assert isinstance(driver_branch, str)
     assert len(driver_branch) > 0
+
+
+# The NVML-unavailable fallback is decided at import time, so it can only be
+# exercised in a fresh interpreter with cuda.bindings.nvml blocked.
+_NO_NVML_SCRIPT = """
+import sys
+
+
+class _BlockNvml:
+    def find_spec(self, name, path=None, target=None):
+        if name == "cuda.bindings.nvml":
+            raise ImportError("blocked for testing", name=name)
+        return None
+
+
+sys.meta_path.insert(0, _BlockNvml())
+
+# Used to raise ImportError out of this import: the flag was cleared, but the
+# `else` that binds the non-NVML fallbacks belonged to the outer `if`, which
+# had already been evaluated, and _nvml_context (imported unconditionally
+# right after) imports cuda.bindings.nvml itself.
+from cuda.core import system
+from cuda.core.system import _system
+
+assert system.CUDA_BINDINGS_NVML_IS_COMPATIBLE is False, "flag must be cleared when nvml is unimportable"
+for name in ("driver", "handle_return", "runtime"):
+    assert hasattr(_system, name), f"non-NVML fallback {name!r} is not bound"
+print("ok")
+"""
+
+
+@pytest.mark.agent_authored(model="claude-opus-5")
+def test_system_falls_back_when_nvml_is_unimportable():
+    proc = subprocess.run(  # noqa: S603
+        [sys.executable, "-c", _NO_NVML_SCRIPT],
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        timeout=300,
+    )
+    assert proc.returncode == 0, f"stdout={proc.stdout!r} stderr={proc.stderr!r}"
+    assert proc.stdout.strip().endswith("ok")