diff --git a/src/agents/model-id-normalization.ts b/src/agents/model-id-normalization.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9b0b27a7f01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/model-id-normalization.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Keep model ID normalization dependency-free so config parsing and other
+// startup-only paths do not pull in provider discovery or plugin loading.
+export function normalizeGoogleModelId(id: string): string {
+  if (id === "gemini-3-pro") {
+    return "gemini-3-pro-preview";
+  }
+  if (id === "gemini-3-flash") {
+    return "gemini-3-flash-preview";
+  }
+  if (id === "gemini-3.1-pro") {
+    return "gemini-3.1-pro-preview";
+  }
+  if (id === "gemini-3.1-flash-lite") {
+    return "gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview";
+  }
+  // Preserve compatibility with earlier OpenClaw docs/config that pointed at a
+  // non-existent Gemini Flash preview ID. Google's current Flash text model is
+  // `gemini-3-flash-preview`.
+  if (id === "gemini-3.1-flash" || id === "gemini-3.1-flash-preview") {
+    return "gemini-3-flash-preview";
+  }
+  return id;
+}
diff --git a/src/agents/model-selection.ts b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
index 72cd5951292..1f73ca6a1b4 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-selection.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ import {
   resolveAgentModelFallbacksOverride,
 } from "./agent-scope.js";
 import { DEFAULT_MODEL, DEFAULT_PROVIDER } from "./defaults.js";
+import { normalizeGoogleModelId } from "./model-id-normalization.js";
 import type { ModelCatalogEntry } from "./model-catalog.js";
 import { splitTrailingAuthProfile } from "./model-ref-profile.js";
-import { normalizeGoogleModelId } from "./models-config.providers.js";
 
 const log = createSubsystemLogger("model-selection");
 
diff --git a/src/agents/models-config.providers.google-antigravity.test.ts b/src/agents/models-config.providers.google-antigravity.test.ts
index ea20608b866..f14cab01493 100644
--- a/src/agents/models-config.providers.google-antigravity.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/models-config.providers.google-antigravity.test.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ import { mkdtempSync } from "node:fs";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { normalizeGoogleModelId } from "./model-id-normalization.js";
 import {
   normalizeAntigravityModelId,
-  normalizeGoogleModelId,
   normalizeProviders,
   type ProviderConfig,
 } from "./models-config.providers.js";
diff --git a/src/agents/models-config.providers.ts b/src/agents/models-config.providers.ts
index b4ef8f4b0b1..229a861c0e5 100644
--- a/src/agents/models-config.providers.ts
+++ b/src/agents/models-config.providers.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { isRecord } from "../utils.js";
 import { normalizeOptionalSecretInput } from "../utils/normalize-secret-input.js";
 import { ensureAuthProfileStore, listProfilesForProvider } from "./auth-profiles.js";
 import { discoverBedrockModels } from "./bedrock-discovery.js";
+import { normalizeGoogleModelId } from "./model-id-normalization.js";
 import {
   buildCloudflareAiGatewayModelDefinition,
   resolveCloudflareAiGatewayBaseUrl,
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ import {
 } from "./model-auth-markers.js";
 import { resolveAwsSdkEnvVarName, resolveEnvApiKey } from "./model-auth.js";
 export { resolveOllamaApiBase } from "./models-config.providers.discovery.js";
+export { normalizeGoogleModelId };
 
 type ModelsConfig = NonNullable<OpenClawConfig["models"]>;
 export type ProviderConfig = NonNullable<ModelsConfig["providers"]>[string];
@@ -223,28 +225,6 @@ function resolveApiKeyFromProfiles(params: {
   return undefined;
 }
 
-export function normalizeGoogleModelId(id: string): string {
-  if (id === "gemini-3-pro") {
-    return "gemini-3-pro-preview";
-  }
-  if (id === "gemini-3-flash") {
-    return "gemini-3-flash-preview";
-  }
-  if (id === "gemini-3.1-pro") {
-    return "gemini-3.1-pro-preview";
-  }
-  if (id === "gemini-3.1-flash-lite") {
-    return "gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview";
-  }
-  // Preserve compatibility with earlier OpenClaw docs/config that pointed at a
-  // non-existent Gemini Flash preview ID. Google's current Flash text model is
-  // `gemini-3-flash-preview`.
-  if (id === "gemini-3.1-flash" || id === "gemini-3.1-flash-preview") {
-    return "gemini-3-flash-preview";
-  }
-  return id;
-}
-
 const ANTIGRAVITY_BARE_PRO_IDS = new Set(["gemini-3-pro", "gemini-3.1-pro", "gemini-3-1-pro"]);
 
 export function normalizeAntigravityModelId(id: string): string {
diff --git a/src/media-understanding/providers/google/inline-data.ts b/src/media-understanding/providers/google/inline-data.ts
index 69fd41871e8..18116a54bc2 100644
--- a/src/media-understanding/providers/google/inline-data.ts
+++ b/src/media-understanding/providers/google/inline-data.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { normalizeGoogleModelId } from "../../../agents/models-config.providers.js";
+import { normalizeGoogleModelId } from "../../../agents/model-id-normalization.js";
 import { parseGeminiAuth } from "../../../infra/gemini-auth.js";
 import { assertOkOrThrowHttpError, normalizeBaseUrl, postJsonRequest } from "../shared.js";