diff --git a/src/gateway/server.impl.ts b/src/gateway/server.impl.ts
index 8d7f67ec867..f463bc2e30e 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server.impl.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server.impl.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ import { GATEWAY_EVENTS } from "./server-methods-list.js";
 import { coreGatewayHandlers } from "./server-methods.js";
 import { loadGatewayModelCatalog } from "./server-model-catalog.js";
 import { createGatewayNodeSessionRuntime } from "./server-node-session-runtime.js";
-import { reloadDeferredGatewayPlugins } from "./server-plugin-bootstrap.js";
 import { setFallbackGatewayContextResolver } from "./server-plugins.js";
 import { startManagedGatewayConfigReloader } from "./server-reload-handlers.js";
 import { createGatewayRequestContext } from "./server-request-context.js";
@@ -764,6 +763,7 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
 
     if (!minimalTestGateway) {
       if (deferredConfiguredChannelPluginIds.length > 0) {
+        const { reloadDeferredGatewayPlugins } = await import("./server-plugin-bootstrap.js");
         ({ pluginRegistry, gatewayMethods: baseGatewayMethods } = reloadDeferredGatewayPlugins({
           cfg: gatewayPluginConfigAtStart,
           workspaceDir: defaultWorkspaceDir,