diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/_internals/where.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/_internals/where.py
index e9131fd7f33..f76802c8b7d 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/_internals/where.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/_internals/where.py
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@
 from cudf.api.types import (
     _is_non_decimal_numeric_dtype,
     is_bool_dtype,
-    is_categorical_dtype,
     is_scalar,
 )
 from cudf.core.column import ColumnBase
+from cudf.core.dtypes import CategoricalDtype
 from cudf.utils.dtypes import (
     _can_cast,
     _dtype_can_hold_element,
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def _check_and_cast_columns_with_other(
 ) -> Tuple[ColumnBase, Union[ScalarLike, ColumnBase]]:
     # Returns type-casted `source_col` & `other` based on `inplace`.
     source_dtype = source_col.dtype
-    if is_categorical_dtype(source_dtype):
+    if isinstance(source_dtype, CategoricalDtype):
         return _normalize_categorical(source_col, other)
 
     other_is_scalar = is_scalar(other)
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/categorical.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/categorical.py
index bab07624dfa..682abe6354d 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/categorical.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/categorical.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 from cudf import _lib as libcudf
 from cudf._lib.transform import bools_to_mask
 from cudf._typing import ColumnBinaryOperand, ColumnLike, Dtype, ScalarLike
-from cudf.api.types import is_categorical_dtype, is_interval_dtype
+from cudf.api.types import is_interval_dtype
 from cudf.core.buffer import Buffer
 from cudf.core.column import column
 from cudf.core.column.methods import ColumnMethods
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class CategoricalAccessor(ColumnMethods):
     _column: CategoricalColumn
 
     def __init__(self, parent: SeriesOrSingleColumnIndex):
-        if not is_categorical_dtype(parent.dtype):
+        if not isinstance(parent.dtype, CategoricalDtype):
             raise AttributeError(
                 "Can only use .cat accessor with a 'category' dtype"
             )
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py
index b4f65693d85..c44127f679a 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py
@@ -2815,7 +2815,7 @@ def concat_columns(objs: "MutableSequence[ColumnBase]") -> ColumnBase:
     # ColumnBase._concat so that all subclasses can override necessary
     # behavior. However, at the moment it's not clear what that API should look
     # like, so CategoricalColumn simply implements a minimal working API.
-    if all(is_categorical_dtype(o.dtype) for o in objs):
+    if all(isinstance(o.dtype, CategoricalDtype) for o in objs):
         return cudf.core.column.categorical.CategoricalColumn._concat(
             cast(
                 MutableSequence[
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/interval.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/interval.py
index d4855def832..bbf4b596154 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/interval.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/interval.py
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
 import pyarrow as pa
 
 import cudf
-from cudf.api.types import is_categorical_dtype, is_interval_dtype
+from cudf.api.types import is_interval_dtype
 from cudf.core.column import StructColumn
-from cudf.core.dtypes import IntervalDtype
+from cudf.core.dtypes import CategoricalDtype, IntervalDtype
 
 
 class IntervalColumn(StructColumn):
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ def copy(self, deep=True):
 
     def as_interval_column(self, dtype, **kwargs):
         if is_interval_dtype(dtype):
-            if is_categorical_dtype(self):
+            if isinstance(self.dtype, CategoricalDtype):
                 new_struct = self._get_decategorized_column()
                 return IntervalColumn.from_struct_column(new_struct)
             if is_interval_dtype(dtype):
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py
index 16eead6ea81..a804f22fa3d 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@
 from cudf.api.types import (
     _is_scalar_or_zero_d_array,
     is_bool_dtype,
-    is_categorical_dtype,
     is_datetime_dtype,
     is_dict_like,
     is_dtype_equal,
@@ -319,7 +318,9 @@ def _getitem_tuple_arg(self, arg):
                     as_column(
                         tmp_arg[0],
                         dtype=self._frame.index.dtype
-                        if is_categorical_dtype(self._frame.index.dtype)
+                        if isinstance(
+                            self._frame.index.dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype
+                        )
                         else None,
                     ),
                     tmp_arg[1],
@@ -1497,7 +1498,7 @@ def _get_numeric_data(self):
         columns = [
             c
             for c, dt in self.dtypes.items()
-            if dt != object and not is_categorical_dtype(dt)
+            if dt != object and not isinstance(dt, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
         ]
         return self[columns]
 
@@ -1740,8 +1741,8 @@ def _concat(
                 out._index._data,
                 indices[:first_data_column_position],
             )
-            if not isinstance(out._index, MultiIndex) and is_categorical_dtype(
-                out._index._values.dtype
+            if not isinstance(out._index, MultiIndex) and isinstance(
+                out._index._values.dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype
             ):
                 out = out.set_index(
                     cudf.core.index.as_index(out.index._values)
@@ -3893,8 +3894,11 @@ def transpose(self):
         # No column from index is transposed with libcudf.
         source_columns = [*self._columns]
         source_dtype = source_columns[0].dtype
-        if is_categorical_dtype(source_dtype):
-            if any(not is_categorical_dtype(c.dtype) for c in source_columns):
+        if isinstance(source_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype):
+            if any(
+                not isinstance(c.dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
+                for c in source_columns
+            ):
                 raise ValueError("Columns must all have the same dtype")
             cats = list(c.categories for c in source_columns)
             cats = cudf.core.column.concat_columns(cats).unique()
@@ -3908,7 +3912,7 @@ def transpose(self):
 
         result_columns = libcudf.transpose.transpose(source_columns)
 
-        if is_categorical_dtype(source_dtype):
+        if isinstance(source_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype):
             result_columns = [
                 codes._with_type_metadata(
                     cudf.core.dtypes.CategoricalDtype(categories=cats)
@@ -4610,8 +4614,8 @@ def apply_rows(
         """
         for col in incols:
             current_col_dtype = self._data[col].dtype
-            if is_string_dtype(current_col_dtype) or is_categorical_dtype(
-                current_col_dtype
+            if is_string_dtype(current_col_dtype) or isinstance(
+                current_col_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype
             ):
                 raise TypeError(
                     "User defined functions are currently not "
@@ -6438,7 +6442,8 @@ def select_dtypes(self, include=None, exclude=None):
         for dtype in self.dtypes:
             for i_dtype in include:
                 # category handling
-                if is_categorical_dtype(i_dtype):
+                if i_dtype == cudf.CategoricalDtype:
+                    # Matches cudf & pandas dtype objects
                     include_subtypes.add(i_dtype)
                 elif inspect.isclass(dtype.type):
                     if issubclass(dtype.type, i_dtype):
@@ -6449,7 +6454,8 @@ def select_dtypes(self, include=None, exclude=None):
         for dtype in self.dtypes:
             for e_dtype in exclude:
                 # category handling
-                if is_categorical_dtype(e_dtype):
+                if e_dtype == cudf.CategoricalDtype:
+                    # Matches cudf & pandas dtype objects
                     exclude_subtypes.add(e_dtype)
                 elif inspect.isclass(dtype.type):
                     if issubclass(dtype.type, e_dtype):
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/index.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/index.py
index 9f0c66a5c74..055c108187e 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/index.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/index.py
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 from cudf.api.extensions import no_default
 from cudf.api.types import (
     _is_non_decimal_numeric_dtype,
-    is_categorical_dtype,
     is_dtype_equal,
     is_integer,
     is_interval_dtype,
@@ -2972,7 +2971,7 @@ def __init__(
         if isinstance(data, CategoricalColumn):
             data = data
         elif isinstance(data, pd.Series) and (
-            is_categorical_dtype(data.dtype)
+            isinstance(data.dtype, pd.CategoricalDtype)
         ):
             codes_data = column.as_column(data.cat.codes.values)
             data = column.build_categorical_column(
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/indexed_frame.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/indexed_frame.py
index 4211a8c24bf..a484c961110 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/indexed_frame.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/indexed_frame.py
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
 from cudf.api.types import (
     _is_non_decimal_numeric_dtype,
     is_bool_dtype,
-    is_categorical_dtype,
     is_decimal_dtype,
     is_dict_like,
     is_list_dtype,
@@ -171,7 +170,7 @@ def _indices_from_labels(obj, labels):
     if not isinstance(labels, cudf.MultiIndex):
         labels = cudf.core.column.as_column(labels)
 
-        if is_categorical_dtype(obj.index):
+        if isinstance(obj.index.dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype):
             labels = labels.astype("category")
             codes = labels.codes.astype(obj.index._values.codes.dtype)
             labels = cudf.core.column.build_categorical_column(
@@ -5455,21 +5454,21 @@ def _is_same_dtype(lhs_dtype, rhs_dtype):
     if lhs_dtype == rhs_dtype:
         return True
     elif (
-        is_categorical_dtype(lhs_dtype)
-        and is_categorical_dtype(rhs_dtype)
+        isinstance(lhs_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
+        and isinstance(rhs_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
         and lhs_dtype.categories.dtype == rhs_dtype.categories.dtype
     ):
         # OK if categories are not all the same
         return True
     elif (
-        is_categorical_dtype(lhs_dtype)
-        and not is_categorical_dtype(rhs_dtype)
+        isinstance(lhs_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
+        and not isinstance(rhs_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
         and lhs_dtype.categories.dtype == rhs_dtype
     ):
         return True
     elif (
-        is_categorical_dtype(rhs_dtype)
-        and not is_categorical_dtype(lhs_dtype)
+        isinstance(rhs_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
+        and not isinstance(lhs_dtype, cudf.CategoricalDtype)
         and rhs_dtype.categories.dtype == lhs_dtype
     ):
         return True
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py
index 3c8489481d8..3cbe58ed39c 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ def melt(
 
     # Error for unimplemented support for datatype
     dtypes = [frame[col].dtype for col in id_vars + value_vars]
-    if any(cudf.api.types.is_categorical_dtype(t) for t in dtypes):
+    if any(isinstance(typ, cudf.CategoricalDtype) for typ in dtypes):
         raise NotImplementedError(
             "Categorical columns are not yet supported for function"
         )
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/tools/numeric.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/tools/numeric.py
index 0273227010b..f24d8572655 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/tools/numeric.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/tools/numeric.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# Copyright (c) 2018-2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 
 import warnings
 
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 from cudf._lib import strings as libstrings
 from cudf.api.types import (
     _is_non_decimal_numeric_dtype,
-    is_categorical_dtype,
     is_datetime_dtype,
     is_list_dtype,
     is_string_dtype,
@@ -18,6 +17,7 @@
     is_timedelta_dtype,
 )
 from cudf.core.column import as_column
+from cudf.core.dtypes import CategoricalDtype
 from cudf.utils.dtypes import can_convert_to_column
 
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ def to_numeric(arg, errors="raise", downcast=None):
 
     if is_datetime_dtype(dtype) or is_timedelta_dtype(dtype):
         col = col.as_numerical_column(cudf.dtype("int64"))
-    elif is_categorical_dtype(dtype):
+    elif isinstance(dtype, CategoricalDtype):
         cat_dtype = col.dtype.type
         if _is_non_decimal_numeric_dtype(cat_dtype):
             col = col.as_numerical_column(cat_dtype)
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dataframe.py b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dataframe.py
index 5677f97408a..4976ee62e71 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dataframe.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dataframe.py
@@ -6067,7 +6067,9 @@ def test_df_sr_mask_where(data, condition, other, error, inplace):
             expect_mask = ps_mask
             got_mask = gs_mask
 
-        if pd.api.types.is_categorical_dtype(expect_where):
+        if isinstance(expect_where, pd.Series) and isinstance(
+            expect_where.dtype, pd.CategoricalDtype
+        ):
             np.testing.assert_array_equal(
                 expect_where.cat.codes,
                 got_where.cat.codes.astype(expect_where.cat.codes.dtype)
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_index.py b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_index.py
index 087b93f1a02..7ebfe70ceb7 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_index.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_index.py
@@ -682,7 +682,7 @@ def test_index_where(data, condition, other, error):
         gs_other = other
 
     if error is None:
-        if pd.api.types.is_categorical_dtype(ps):
+        if isinstance(ps.dtype, pd.CategoricalDtype):
             expect = ps.where(ps_condition, other=ps_other)
             got = gs.where(gs_condition, other=gs_other)
             np.testing.assert_array_equal(