diff --git a/.github/workflows/executables.yml b/.github/workflows/executables.yml
index 938f4186..7a8a83ac 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/executables.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/executables.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Build executable
       run: |
-        pip install requests requests[socks] urllib3==1.25.11 youtube-dl pyinstaller
+        pip install requests requests[socks] urllib3==1.25.11 yt-dlp pyinstaller
         python scripts/pyinstaller.py
 
     - name: Upload executable
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 72f7c827..29ac980d 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Optional
 --------
 
 - FFmpeg_: Pixiv Ugoira to WebM conversion
-- youtube-dl_: Video downloads
+- yt-dlp_ or youtube-dl_: Video downloads
 
 
 Installation
@@ -328,6 +328,7 @@ To authenticate with a ``mastodon`` instance, run *gallery-dl* with
 .. _pip:        https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/
 .. _Requests:   https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/master/
 .. _FFmpeg:     https://www.ffmpeg.org/
+.. _yt-dlp:     https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
 .. _youtube-dl: https://ytdl-org.github.io/youtube-dl/
 .. _pyOpenSSL:  https://pyopenssl.org/
 .. _Snapd:      https://docs.snapcraft.io/installing-snapd
diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index ef1f9da0..007c0aee 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -2275,10 +2275,13 @@ extractor.ytdl.module
 Type
     ``string``
 Default
-    ``"youtube_dl"``
+    ``null``
 Description
     Name of the youtube-dl Python module to import.
 
+    Setting this to ``null`` will try to import ``"yt_dlp"``
+    followed by ``"youtube_dl"`` as fallback.
+
 
 extractor.ytdl.raw-options
 --------------------------
@@ -2564,10 +2567,13 @@ downloader.ytdl.module
 Type
     ``string``
 Default
-    ``"youtube_dl"``
+    ``null``
 Description
     Name of the youtube-dl Python module to import.
 
+    Setting this to ``null`` will first try to import ``"yt_dlp"``
+    and use ``"youtube_dl"`` as fallback.
+
 
 downloader.ytdl.outtmpl
 -----------------------
diff --git a/docs/gallery-dl.conf b/docs/gallery-dl.conf
index 0800ec7f..985bb1de 100644
--- a/docs/gallery-dl.conf
+++ b/docs/gallery-dl.conf
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@
             "format": null,
             "generic": true,
             "logging": true,
-            "module": "youtube_dl",
+            "module": null,
             "raw-options": null
         },
         "booru":
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@
             "format": null,
             "forward-cookies": false,
             "logging": true,
-            "module": "youtube_dl",
+            "module": null,
             "outtmpl": null,
             "raw-options": null
         }
diff --git a/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py b/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
index 8416ca07..30f628ef 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class YoutubeDLDownloader(DownloaderBase):
         if not ytdl_instance:
             ytdl_instance = self.ytdl_instance
             if not ytdl_instance:
-                module = __import__(self.config("module") or "youtube_dl")
+                module = ytdl.import_module(self.config("module"))
                 self.ytdl_instance = ytdl_instance = ytdl.construct_YoutubeDL(
                     module, self, self.ytdl_opts)
                 if self.outtmpl == "default":
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/ytdl.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/ytdl.py
index 8eb0c834..8f3ef9a4 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/ytdl.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/ytdl.py
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ class YoutubeDLExtractor(Extractor):
 
     def __init__(self, match):
         # import main youtube_dl module
-        module_name = self.ytdl_module_name = config.get(
-            ("extractor", "ytdl"), "module") or "youtube_dl"
-        module = __import__(module_name)
+        ytdl_module = ytdl.import_module(config.get(
+            ("extractor", "ytdl"), "module"))
+        self.ytdl_module_name = ytdl_module.__name__
 
         # find suitable youtube_dl extractor
         self.ytdl_url = url = match.group(1)
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class YoutubeDLExtractor(Extractor):
             self.ytdl_ie_key = "Generic"
             self.force_generic_extractor = True
         else:
-            for ie in module.extractor.gen_extractor_classes():
+            for ie in ytdl_module.extractor.gen_extractor_classes():
                 if ie.suitable(url):
                     self.ytdl_ie_key = ie.ie_key()
                     break
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class YoutubeDLExtractor(Extractor):
 
     def items(self):
         # import subcategory module
-        ytdl_module = __import__(
+        ytdl_module = ytdl.import_module(
             config.get(("extractor", "ytdl", self.subcategory), "module") or
             self.ytdl_module_name)
         self.log.debug("Using %s", ytdl_module)
diff --git a/gallery_dl/ytdl.py b/gallery_dl/ytdl.py
index 4266f48c..f8c7f98a 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/ytdl.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/ytdl.py
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ import itertools
 from . import text, util, exception
 
 
+def import_module(module_name):
+    if module_name is None:
+        try:
+            return __import__("yt_dlp")
+        except ImportError:
+            return __import__("youtube_dl")
+    return __import__(module_name.replace("-", "_"))
+
+
 def construct_YoutubeDL(module, obj, user_opts, system_opts=None):
     opts = argv = None
     config = obj.config
diff --git a/scripts/hook-gallery_dl.py b/scripts/hook-gallery_dl.py
index ba7bed66..ae51b068 100644
--- a/scripts/hook-gallery_dl.py
+++ b/scripts/hook-gallery_dl.py
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ hiddenimports = [
     for module in package.modules
 ]
 
-hiddenimports.append("youtube_dl")
+hiddenimports.append("yt_dlp")