diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8cf1383a2d9..1121fe4eb76 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Changes
 
+- Gateway/startup: skip plugin-backed auth-profile overlays during startup secrets preflight, reducing gateway readiness latency while keeping reload and OAuth recovery paths overlay-capable. (#68327) Thanks @JIRBOY.
+
 ### Fixes
 
 - CLI/update: treat inherited Gateway service markers as origin hints and only block package replacement when the managed Gateway is still live, so self-updates can stop the service and continue safely. (#75729) Thanks @hxy91819.
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-startup-config.secrets.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-startup-config.secrets.test.ts
index d11475be4cd..192790bb6f3 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-startup-config.secrets.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-startup-config.secrets.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles } from "../agents/auth-profiles.js";
 import type { ConfigFileSnapshot, OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.js";
 import type { PreparedSecretsRuntimeSnapshot, SecretResolverWarning } from "../secrets/runtime.js";
 import { KNOWN_WEAK_GATEWAY_TOKEN_PLACEHOLDERS } from "./known-weak-gateway-secrets.js";
@@ -105,6 +106,30 @@ describe("gateway startup config secret preflight", () => {
     expect(emitStateEvent).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("uses persisted auth stores only for startup secret preflight", async () => {
+    const prepareRuntimeSecretsSnapshot = vi.fn(async ({ config }) => preparedSnapshot(config));
+    const activateRuntimeSecrets = createRuntimeSecretsActivator({
+      logSecrets: {
+        info: vi.fn(),
+        warn: vi.fn(),
+        error: vi.fn(),
+      },
+      emitStateEvent: vi.fn(),
+      prepareRuntimeSecretsSnapshot,
+      activateRuntimeSecretsSnapshot: vi.fn(),
+    });
+
+    await activateRuntimeSecrets(gatewayTokenConfig({}), {
+      reason: "startup",
+      activate: false,
+    });
+
+    expect(prepareRuntimeSecretsSnapshot).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      config: expect.any(Object),
+      loadAuthStore: loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles,
+    });
+  });
+
   it("does not emit degraded or recovered events for warning-only secret reloads", async () => {
     const warning: SecretResolverWarning = {
       code: "WEB_SEARCH_KEY_UNRESOLVED_FALLBACK_USED",
@@ -156,6 +181,9 @@ describe("gateway startup config secret preflight", () => {
       "[WEB_SEARCH_KEY_UNRESOLVED_FALLBACK_USED] web search provider fell back to environment credentials",
     );
     expect(emitStateEvent).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(prepareRuntimeSecretsSnapshot).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      config: expect.any(Object),
+    });
   });
 
   it.each(KNOWN_WEAK_GATEWAY_TOKEN_PLACEHOLDERS)(
@@ -245,6 +273,7 @@ describe("gateway startup config secret preflight", () => {
       config: expect.not.objectContaining({
         channels: expect.anything(),
       }),
+      loadAuthStore: loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles,
     });
   });
 
@@ -294,6 +323,7 @@ describe("gateway startup config secret preflight", () => {
           }),
         }),
       }),
+      loadAuthStore: loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles,
     });
     expect(activateRuntimeSecretsSnapshot).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
@@ -327,6 +357,7 @@ describe("gateway startup config secret preflight", () => {
           }),
         }),
       }),
+      loadAuthStore: loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles,
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-startup-config.ts b/src/gateway/server-startup-config.ts
index 00b391fec39..96850931f09 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-startup-config.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-startup-config.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles } from "../agents/auth-profiles.js";
 import { formatCliCommand } from "../cli/command-format.js";
 import {
   readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata,
@@ -366,8 +367,13 @@ export function createRuntimeSecretsActivator(params: {
   return async (config, activationParams) =>
     await runWithSecretsActivationLock(async () => {
       try {
+        const startupPreflight =
+          activationParams.reason === "startup" || activationParams.reason === "restart-check";
         const prepared = await prepareRuntimeSecretsSnapshot({
           config: pruneSkippedStartupSecretSurfaces(config),
+          ...(startupPreflight
+            ? { loadAuthStore: loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles }
+            : {}),
         });
         assertRuntimeGatewayAuthNotKnownWeak(prepared.config);
         if (activationParams.activate) {