diff --git a/src/channels/bundled-channel-catalog-read.fail-soft.test.ts b/src/channels/bundled-channel-catalog-read.fail-soft.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6cc95c3ca8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/channels/bundled-channel-catalog-read.fail-soft.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { importFreshModule } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/test-fixtures";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  vi.resetModules();
+});
+
+describe("listBundledChannelCatalogEntries discovery failures", () => {
+  it("falls back when bundled plugin catalog discovery is unavailable during import", async () => {
+    vi.doMock("../infra/openclaw-root.js", () => ({
+      resolveOpenClawPackageRootSync: () => null,
+      resolveOpenClawPackageRoot: async () => null,
+    }));
+    vi.doMock("../plugins/channel-catalog-registry.js", () => ({
+      listChannelCatalogEntries() {
+        throw new ReferenceError("Cannot access 'discoverOpenClawPlugins' before initialization.");
+      },
+    }));
+
+    const catalog = await importFreshModule<typeof import("./bundled-channel-catalog-read.js")>(
+      import.meta.url,
+      "./bundled-channel-catalog-read.js?scope=discovery-fail-soft",
+    );
+
+    expect(catalog.listBundledChannelCatalogEntries()).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/channels/bundled-channel-catalog-read.ts b/src/channels/bundled-channel-catalog-read.ts
index 4e4c2d571aa..2248a405dd5 100644
--- a/src/channels/bundled-channel-catalog-read.ts
+++ b/src/channels/bundled-channel-catalog-read.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,11 @@ function listPackageRoots(): string[] {
 }
 
 function readBundledExtensionCatalogEntriesSync(): PluginPackageChannel[] {
-  return listChannelCatalogEntries({ origin: "bundled" }).map((entry) => entry.channel);
+  try {
+    return listChannelCatalogEntries({ origin: "bundled" }).map((entry) => entry.channel);
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
 }
 
 function readOfficialCatalogFileSync(): ChannelCatalogEntryLike[] {