diff --git a/src/channels/config-presence.ts b/src/channels/config-presence.ts
index e08b2b7d007..09d30bad404 100644
--- a/src/channels/config-presence.ts
+++ b/src/channels/config-presence.ts
@@ -115,10 +115,10 @@ function hasEnvConfiguredChannel(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): boolean {
 }
 
 export function hasPotentialConfiguredChannels(
-  cfg: OpenClawConfig,
+  cfg: OpenClawConfig | null | undefined,
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
 ): boolean {
-  const channels = isRecord(cfg.channels) ? cfg.channels : null;
+  const channels = isRecord(cfg?.channels) ? cfg.channels : null;
   if (channels) {
     for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(channels)) {
       if (IGNORED_CHANNEL_CONFIG_KEYS.has(key)) {
diff --git a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.ts b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.ts
index 942d0edf82c..73d57f470ac 100644
--- a/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.ts
+++ b/src/config/plugin-auto-enable.ts
@@ -653,20 +653,21 @@ export function applyPluginAutoEnable(params: {
   manifestRegistry?: PluginManifestRegistry;
 }): PluginAutoEnableResult {
   const env = params.env ?? process.env;
-  if (!configMayNeedPluginAutoEnable(params.config, env)) {
-    return { config: params.config, changes: [], autoEnabledReasons: {} };
+  const config = params.config ?? ({} as OpenClawConfig);
+  if (!configMayNeedPluginAutoEnable(config, env)) {
+    return { config, changes: [], autoEnabledReasons: {} };
   }
   const registry =
     params.manifestRegistry ??
-    (configMayNeedPluginManifestRegistry(params.config)
-      ? loadPluginManifestRegistry({ config: params.config, env })
+    (configMayNeedPluginManifestRegistry(config)
+      ? loadPluginManifestRegistry({ config, env })
       : EMPTY_PLUGIN_MANIFEST_REGISTRY);
-  const configured = resolveConfiguredPlugins(params.config, env, registry);
+  const configured = resolveConfiguredPlugins(config, env, registry);
   if (configured.length === 0) {
-    return { config: params.config, changes: [], autoEnabledReasons: {} };
+    return { config, changes: [], autoEnabledReasons: {} };
   }
 
-  let next = params.config;
+  let next = config;
   const changes: string[] = [];
   const autoEnabledReasons = new Map<string, string[]>();
 
diff --git a/src/plugin-sdk/facade-runtime.ts b/src/plugin-sdk/facade-runtime.ts
index 164417a550f..84433d925bf 100644
--- a/src/plugin-sdk/facade-runtime.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-sdk/facade-runtime.ts
@@ -155,8 +155,8 @@ function getFacadeBoundaryResolvedConfig() {
   const resolved = {
     rawConfig,
     config,
-    normalizedPluginsConfig: normalizePluginsConfig(config.plugins),
-    sourceNormalizedPluginsConfig: normalizePluginsConfig(rawConfig.plugins),
+    normalizedPluginsConfig: normalizePluginsConfig(config?.plugins),
+    sourceNormalizedPluginsConfig: normalizePluginsConfig(rawConfig?.plugins),
     autoEnabledReasons: autoEnabled.autoEnabledReasons,
   };
   cachedBoundaryRawConfig = rawConfig;