diff --git a/.github/workflows/Format-check.yml b/.github/workflows/Format-check.yml
index d7e65ac7d..1a559b2a9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/Format-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/Format-check.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install JuliaFormatter and format
         run: |
           julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(PackageSpec(name="JuliaFormatter"))'
-          julia -e 'using JuliaFormatter; format(["src", "test", "filters", "gen"], verbose=true)'
+          julia -e 'using JuliaFormatter; format(["src", "test", "ext", "filters", "gen"], verbose=true)'
+
       - name: Format check
         run: |
           julia -e '
diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index ee554fd73..bd1d247fb 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -14,9 +14,16 @@ Requires = "ae029012-a4dd-5104-9daa-d747884805df"
 UUIDs = "cf7118a7-6976-5b1a-9a39-7adc72f591a4"
 MPIPreferences = "3da0fdf6-3ccc-4f1b-acd9-58baa6c99267"
 
+[weakdeps]
+MPI = "da04e1cc-30fd-572f-bb4f-1f8673147195"
+
+[extensions]
+MPIExt = "MPI"
+
 [compat]
 Compat = "3.1.0, 4"
 HDF5_jll = "~1.10.5, ~1.12.0, ~1.14.0"
+MPI = "0.20"
 MPIPreferences = "0.1.7"
 Preferences = "1.3"
 Requires = "1.0"
diff --git a/src/drivers/mpio.jl b/ext/MPIExt.jl
similarity index 67%
rename from src/drivers/mpio.jl
rename to ext/MPIExt.jl
index ea39d5f57..6547609fb 100644
--- a/src/drivers/mpio.jl
+++ b/ext/MPIExt.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
-using .MPI
+module MPIExt
+
+isdefined(Base, :get_extension) ? (using MPI) : (using ..MPI)
 import Libdl
-import HDF5: h5open
+using HDF5: HDF5, API, Drivers, Drivers.Driver, Properties, h5doc, h5open
 
 ###
 ### MPIO
@@ -43,34 +45,16 @@ function API.h5p_get_fapl_mpio(fapl_id, comm, info)
     return nothing
 end
 
-"""
-    MPIO(comm::MPI.Comm, info::MPI.Info)
-    MPIO(comm::MPI.Comm; kwargs....)
-
-The parallel MPI file driver. This requires the use of
-[MPI.jl](https://github.com/JuliaParallel/MPI.jl), and a custom HDF5 binary that has been
-built with MPI support.
-
-- `comm` is the communicator over which the file will be opened.
-- `info`/`kwargs` are MPI-IO options, and are passed to `MPI_FILE_OPEN`.
-
-# See also
-
-- [`HDF5.has_parallel`](@ref)
-- [Parallel HDF5](@ref)
-
-# External links
-
-- $(h5doc("H5P_SET_FAPL_MPIO"))
-- [Parallel HDF5](https://portal.hdfgroup.org/display/HDF5/Parallel+HDF5)
-"""
+# The docstring for `MPIO` is included in the function `MPIO` in
+# src/drivers/drivers.jl.
 struct MPIO <: Driver
     comm::MPI.Comm
     info::MPI.Info
 end
-MPIO(comm::MPI.Comm; kwargs...) = MPIO(comm, MPI.Info(; kwargs...))
+Drivers.MPIO(comm::MPI.Comm, info::MPI.Info) = MPIO(comm, info)
+Drivers.MPIO(comm::MPI.Comm; kwargs...) = MPIO(comm, MPI.Info(; kwargs...))
 
-function set_driver!(fapl::Properties, mpio::MPIO)
+function Drivers.set_driver!(fapl::Properties, mpio::MPIO)
     HDF5.has_parallel() || error(
         "HDF5.jl has no parallel support." *
         " Make sure that you're using MPI-enabled HDF5 libraries, and that" *
@@ -79,11 +63,11 @@ function set_driver!(fapl::Properties, mpio::MPIO)
     )
     # Note: HDF5 creates a COPY of the comm and info objects, so we don't need to keep a reference around.
     API.h5p_set_fapl_mpio(fapl, mpio.comm, mpio.info)
-    DRIVERS[API.h5p_get_driver(fapl)] = MPIO
+    Drivers.DRIVERS[API.h5p_get_driver(fapl)] = MPIO
     return nothing
 end
 
-function get_driver(fapl::Properties, ::Type{MPIO})
+function Drivers.get_driver(fapl::Properties, ::Type{MPIO})
     comm = MPI.Comm()
     info = MPI.Info()
     API.h5p_get_fapl_mpio(fapl, comm, info)
@@ -102,15 +86,17 @@ support.
 See the [HDF5 docs](https://portal.hdfgroup.org/display/HDF5/H5P_SET_FAPL_MPIO)
 for details on the `comm` and `info` arguments.
 """
-function h5open(
+function HDF5.h5open(
     filename::AbstractString,
     mode::AbstractString,
     comm::MPI.Comm,
     info::MPI.Info=MPI.Info();
     pv...
 )
-    h5open(filename, mode; driver=MPIO(comm, info), pv...)
+    HDF5.h5open(filename, mode; driver=MPIO(comm, info), pv...)
 end
 
-h5open(filename::AbstractString, comm::MPI.Comm, args...; pv...) =
-    h5open(filename, "r", comm, args...; pv...)
+HDF5.h5open(filename::AbstractString, comm::MPI.Comm, args...; pv...) =
+    HDF5.h5open(filename, "r", comm, args...; pv...)
+
+end
diff --git a/src/drivers/drivers.jl b/src/drivers/drivers.jl
index dd788b51d..402775873 100644
--- a/src/drivers/drivers.jl
+++ b/src/drivers/drivers.jl
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ import ..API
 import ..HDF5: HDF5, Properties, h5doc
 
 using Libdl: dlopen, dlsym
-using Requires: @require
+if !isdefined(Base, :get_extension)
+    using Requires: @require
+end
 
 function get_driver(p::Properties)
     driver_id = API.h5p_get_driver(p)
@@ -89,8 +91,37 @@ function __init__()
     HDF5.HAS_PARALLEL[] = API._has_symbol(:H5Pset_fapl_mpio)
     HDF5.HAS_ROS3[] = API._has_symbol(:H5Pset_fapl_ros3)
 
-    @require MPI = "da04e1cc-30fd-572f-bb4f-1f8673147195" include("mpio.jl")
+    @static if !isdefined(Base, :get_extension)
+        @require MPI = "da04e1cc-30fd-572f-bb4f-1f8673147195" include("../../ext/MPIExt.jl")
+    end
 end
 
+# The docstring for `MPIO` basically belongs to the struct `MPIO` in
+# ext/MPIExt/MPIExt.jl. However, we need to document it here to make it
+# work smoothly both for Julia without package extensions (up to v1.8) and
+# with package extensions (v1.9 and newer).
+@doc """
+    MPIO(comm::MPI.Comm, info::MPI.Info)
+    MPIO(comm::MPI.Comm; kwargs....)
+
+The parallel MPI file driver. This requires the use of
+[MPI.jl](https://github.com/JuliaParallel/MPI.jl), and a custom HDF5 binary that has been
+built with MPI support.
+
+- `comm` is the communicator over which the file will be opened.
+- `info`/`kwargs` are MPI-IO options, and are passed to `MPI_FILE_OPEN`.
+
+# See also
+
+- [`HDF5.has_parallel`](@ref)
+- [Parallel HDF5](@ref)
+
+# External links
+
+- $(h5doc("H5P_SET_FAPL_MPIO"))
+- [Parallel HDF5](https://portal.hdfgroup.org/display/HDF5/Parallel+HDF5)
+"""
+function MPIO end
+
 include("ros3.jl")
 end # module