diff --git a/mlflow/tracking/_model_registry/utils.py b/mlflow/tracking/_model_registry/utils.py
index 2101388915ece..123d5af0f85e6 100644
--- a/mlflow/tracking/_model_registry/utils.py
+++ b/mlflow/tracking/_model_registry/utils.py
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
     get_db_info_from_uri,
     is_databricks_uri,
 )
+from mlflow.store._unity_catalog.registry.rest_store import UcModelRegistryStore
+from mlflow.store._unity_catalog.registry.uc_oss_rest_store import UnityCatalogOssStore
 
 # NOTE: in contrast to tracking, we do not support the following ways to specify
 # the model registry URI:
@@ -217,30 +219,28 @@ def _get_file_store(store_uri, **_):
 
 def _get_store_registry():
     global _model_registry_store_registry
-    from mlflow.store._unity_catalog.registry.rest_store import UcModelRegistryStore
-    from mlflow.store._unity_catalog.registry.uc_oss_rest_store import UnityCatalogOssStore
 
-    if _model_registry_store_registry is not None:
-        return _model_registry_store_registry
+    registry = _model_registry_store_registry
+    if registry is not None:
+        return registry
 
-    _model_registry_store_registry = ModelRegistryStoreRegistry()
-    _model_registry_store_registry.register("databricks", _get_databricks_rest_store)
-    # Register a placeholder function that raises if users pass a registry URI with scheme
-    # "databricks-uc"
-    _model_registry_store_registry.register(_DATABRICKS_UNITY_CATALOG_SCHEME, UcModelRegistryStore)
-    _model_registry_store_registry.register(_OSS_UNITY_CATALOG_SCHEME, UnityCatalogOssStore)
+    registry = ModelRegistryStoreRegistry()
+    _model_registry_store_registry = registry
+    registry.register("databricks", _get_databricks_rest_store)
+    registry.register(_DATABRICKS_UNITY_CATALOG_SCHEME, UcModelRegistryStore)
+    registry.register(_OSS_UNITY_CATALOG_SCHEME, UnityCatalogOssStore)
 
-    for scheme in ["http", "https"]:
-        _model_registry_store_registry.register(scheme, _get_rest_store)
+    reg = registry.register
+    for scheme in ("http", "https"):
+        reg(scheme, _get_rest_store)
 
     for scheme in DATABASE_ENGINES:
-        _model_registry_store_registry.register(scheme, _get_sqlalchemy_store)
+        reg(scheme, _get_sqlalchemy_store)
+    for scheme in ("", "file"):
+        reg(scheme, _get_file_store)
 
-    for scheme in ["", "file"]:
-        _model_registry_store_registry.register(scheme, _get_file_store)
-
-    _model_registry_store_registry.register_entrypoints()
-    return _model_registry_store_registry
+    registry.register_entrypoints()
+    return registry
 
 
 def _get_store(store_uri=None, tracking_uri=None):
diff --git a/mlflow/tracking/registry.py b/mlflow/tracking/registry.py
index 0aef285161d49..c4e6edc628445 100644
--- a/mlflow/tracking/registry.py
+++ b/mlflow/tracking/registry.py
@@ -48,16 +48,13 @@ def register(self, scheme, store_builder):
 
     def register_entrypoints(self):
         """Register tracking stores provided by other packages"""
+        _register = self.register
         for entrypoint in get_entry_points(self.group_name):
             try:
-                self.register(entrypoint.name, entrypoint.load())
+                _register(entrypoint.name, entrypoint.load())
             except (AttributeError, ImportError) as exc:
-                warnings.warn(
-                    'Failure attempting to register store for scheme "{}": {}'.format(
-                        entrypoint.name, str(exc)
-                    ),
-                    stacklevel=2,
-                )
+                msg = f'Failure attempting to register store for scheme "{entrypoint.name}": {exc}'
+                warnings.warn(msg, stacklevel=2)
 
     def get_store_builder(self, store_uri):
         """Get a store from the registry based on the scheme of store_uri