diff --git a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
index 77571b7d0b6..5c6ab6c8d0f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
@@ -43,11 +43,21 @@ vi.mock("../channels/config-presence.js", () => ({
   hasMeaningfulChannelConfig,
 }));
 
-vi.mock("./manifest-registry-installed.js", () => ({
-  loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex,
-}));
+vi.mock("./manifest-registry-installed.js", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("./manifest-registry-installed.js")>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex,
+  };
+});
 
-vi.mock("./plugin-registry-snapshot.js", () => ({ loadPluginRegistrySnapshot }));
+vi.mock("./plugin-registry-snapshot.js", () => ({
+  loadPluginRegistrySnapshot,
+  loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata: (params: unknown) => ({
+    snapshot: loadPluginRegistrySnapshot(params),
+    diagnostics: [],
+  }),
+}));
 
 vi.mock("./plugin-registry-contributions.js", async (importOriginal) => {
   const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("./plugin-registry-contributions.js")>();
@@ -62,6 +72,7 @@ import {
   listConfiguredAnnounceChannelIdsForConfig,
   listConfiguredChannelIdsForReadOnlyScope,
   listExplicitConfiguredChannelIdsForConfig,
+  loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan,
   resolveConfiguredChannelPresencePolicy,
   resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIds,
   resolveConfiguredChannelPluginIds,
@@ -854,6 +865,31 @@ describe("resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds", () => {
     ).toEqual([]);
   });
 
+  it("loads channel, deferred, and startup plugin ids from one manifest registry", () => {
+    const registry = createManifestRegistryFixture();
+    const index = createInstalledPluginIndexFixture(registry);
+    loadPluginRegistrySnapshot.mockReset().mockReturnValue(index);
+    loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex.mockReset().mockReturnValue(registry);
+
+    const plan = loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan({
+      config: {
+        channels: {
+          "demo-channel": {
+            token: "configured",
+          },
+        },
+      } as OpenClawConfig,
+      workspaceDir: "/tmp",
+      env: {},
+    });
+
+    expect(plan.channelPluginIds).toContain("demo-channel");
+    expect(plan.pluginIds).toContain("demo-channel");
+    expect(plan.configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds).toEqual([]);
+    expect(loadPluginRegistrySnapshot).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+
   it("does not treat explicitly disabled stale channel config as deferred startup intent", () => {
     useManifestRegistryFixture(createManifestRegistryFixtureWithWorkspaceDemoChannel());
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts
index 56e0da57898..78749006620 100644
--- a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ export {
   resolveChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry,
   resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIds,
   resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry,
+  loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan,
   resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds,
+  resolveGatewayStartupPluginPlanFromRegistry,
   resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry,
+  type GatewayStartupPluginPlan,
 } from "./gateway-startup-plugin-ids.js";
diff --git a/src/plugins/current-plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts b/src/plugins/current-plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts
index bbe8053f5c2..ed7f896555e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/current-plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/current-plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {
 } from "./plugin-control-plane-context.js";
 import type { PluginMetadataSnapshot } from "./plugin-metadata-snapshot.types.js";
 
-export function resolvePluginMetadataSnapshotConfigFingerprint(
+export function resolvePluginMetadataControlPlaneFingerprint(
   config?: OpenClawConfig,
   options: Omit<ResolvePluginControlPlaneContextParams, "config"> = {},
 ): string {
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ export function setCurrentPluginMetadataSnapshot(
   setCurrentPluginMetadataSnapshotState(
     snapshot,
     snapshot
-      ? resolvePluginMetadataSnapshotConfigFingerprint(options.config, {
+      ? resolvePluginMetadataControlPlaneFingerprint(options.config, {
           env: options.env,
           index: snapshot.index,
           policyHash: snapshot.policyHash,
@@ -63,15 +63,12 @@ export function getCurrentPluginMetadataSnapshot(
     return undefined;
   }
   if (params.config) {
-    const requestedConfigFingerprint = resolvePluginMetadataSnapshotConfigFingerprint(
-      params.config,
-      {
-        env: params.env,
-        index: snapshot.index,
-        policyHash: snapshot.policyHash,
-        workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-      },
-    );
+    const requestedConfigFingerprint = resolvePluginMetadataControlPlaneFingerprint(params.config, {
+      env: params.env,
+      index: snapshot.index,
+      policyHash: snapshot.policyHash,
+      workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
+    });
     if (configFingerprint && configFingerprint !== requestedConfigFingerprint) {
       return undefined;
     }
diff --git a/src/plugins/effective-plugin-ids.ts b/src/plugins/effective-plugin-ids.ts
index 7924203e8bc..7daefd72548 100644
--- a/src/plugins/effective-plugin-ids.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/effective-plugin-ids.ts
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import { normalizeOptionalLowercaseString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import {
   listExplicitConfiguredChannelIdsForConfig,
+  loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan,
   resolveConfiguredChannelPluginIds,
-  resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds,
 } from "./channel-plugin-ids.js";
 import { normalizePluginsConfig } from "./config-state.js";
 import { passesManifestOwnerBasePolicy } from "./manifest-owner-policy.js";
@@ -155,12 +155,12 @@ export function resolveEffectivePluginIds(params: {
   })) {
     ids.add(pluginId);
   }
-  for (const pluginId of resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds({
+  for (const pluginId of loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan({
     config: effectiveConfig,
     activationSourceConfig: params.config,
     workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
     env: params.env,
-  })) {
+  }).pluginIds) {
     ids.add(pluginId);
   }
   return [...ids].toSorted((left, right) => left.localeCompare(right));
diff --git a/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts b/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts
index 5c08fb8b8fc..94e04cfaf9a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts
@@ -15,13 +15,23 @@ import { hasExplicitChannelConfig } from "./channel-presence-policy.js";
 import { collectPluginConfigContractMatches } from "./config-contracts.js";
 import { resolveEffectivePluginActivationState } from "./config-state.js";
 import type { InstalledPluginIndexRecord } from "./installed-plugin-index.js";
-import { loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex } from "./manifest-registry-installed.js";
 import type { PluginManifestRecord, PluginManifestRegistry } from "./manifest-registry.js";
+import {
+  isPluginMetadataSnapshotCompatible,
+  loadPluginMetadataSnapshot,
+  type PluginMetadataSnapshot,
+} from "./plugin-metadata-snapshot.js";
 import {
   createPluginRegistryIdNormalizer,
   normalizePluginsConfigWithRegistry,
 } from "./plugin-registry-contributions.js";
-import { loadPluginRegistrySnapshot } from "./plugin-registry-snapshot.js";
+import type { PluginRegistrySnapshot } from "./plugin-registry-snapshot.js";
+
+export type GatewayStartupPluginPlan = {
+  channelPluginIds: readonly string[];
+  configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds: readonly string[];
+  pluginIds: readonly string[];
+};
 
 function isRecord(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
   return Boolean(value && typeof value === "object" && !Array.isArray(value));
@@ -235,19 +245,7 @@ export function resolveChannelPluginIds(params: {
   workspaceDir?: string;
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
 }): string[] {
-  const index = loadPluginRegistrySnapshot({
-    config: params.config,
-    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-    env: params.env,
-  });
-  const manifestRegistry = loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex({
-    index,
-    config: params.config,
-    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-    env: params.env,
-    includeDisabled: true,
-  });
-  return resolveChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry({ manifestRegistry });
+  return [...loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan(params).channelPluginIds];
 }
 
 export function resolveChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry(params: {
@@ -262,7 +260,7 @@ export function resolveChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry(params: {
 export function resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry(params: {
   config: OpenClawConfig;
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
-  index: ReturnType<typeof loadPluginRegistrySnapshot>;
+  index: PluginRegistrySnapshot;
   manifestRegistry: PluginManifestRegistry;
 }): string[] {
   const configuredChannelIds = new Set(listPotentialEnabledChannelIds(params.config, params.env));
@@ -302,33 +300,25 @@ export function resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIds(params: {
   workspaceDir?: string;
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
 }): string[] {
-  const index = loadPluginRegistrySnapshot({
-    config: params.config,
-    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-    env: params.env,
-  });
-  const manifestRegistry = loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex({
-    index,
-    config: params.config,
-    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-    env: params.env,
-    includeDisabled: true,
-  });
-  return resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry({
-    config: params.config,
-    env: params.env,
-    index,
-    manifestRegistry,
-  });
+  return [...loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan(params).configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds];
 }
 
-export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry(params: {
+export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginPlanFromRegistry(params: {
   config: OpenClawConfig;
   activationSourceConfig?: OpenClawConfig;
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
-  index: ReturnType<typeof loadPluginRegistrySnapshot>;
+  index: PluginRegistrySnapshot;
   manifestRegistry: PluginManifestRegistry;
-}): string[] {
+}): GatewayStartupPluginPlan {
+  const channelPluginIds = resolveChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry({
+    manifestRegistry: params.manifestRegistry,
+  });
+  const configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds = resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry({
+    config: params.config,
+    env: params.env,
+    index: params.index,
+    manifestRegistry: params.manifestRegistry,
+  });
   const configuredChannelIds = new Set(listPotentialEnabledChannelIds(params.config, params.env));
   const pluginsConfig = normalizePluginsConfigWithRegistry(params.config.plugins, params.index, {
     manifestRegistry: params.manifestRegistry,
@@ -358,7 +348,7 @@ export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry(params: {
       manifestRegistry: params.manifestRegistry,
     }),
   });
-  return params.index.plugins
+  const pluginIds = params.index.plugins
     .filter((plugin) => {
       const manifest = findManifestPlugin(manifestLookup, plugin.pluginId);
       if (
@@ -427,6 +417,57 @@ export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry(params: {
       return activationState.source === "explicit" || activationState.source === "default";
     })
     .map((plugin) => plugin.pluginId);
+  return {
+    channelPluginIds,
+    configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds,
+    pluginIds,
+  };
+}
+
+export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry(params: {
+  config: OpenClawConfig;
+  activationSourceConfig?: OpenClawConfig;
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+  index: PluginRegistrySnapshot;
+  manifestRegistry: PluginManifestRegistry;
+}): string[] {
+  return [...resolveGatewayStartupPluginPlanFromRegistry(params).pluginIds];
+}
+
+export function loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan(params: {
+  config: OpenClawConfig;
+  activationSourceConfig?: OpenClawConfig;
+  workspaceDir?: string;
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+  index?: PluginRegistrySnapshot;
+  metadataSnapshot?: PluginMetadataSnapshot;
+}): GatewayStartupPluginPlan {
+  const snapshotConfig = params.activationSourceConfig ?? params.config;
+  const metadataSnapshot =
+    params.metadataSnapshot &&
+    isPluginMetadataSnapshotCompatible({
+      snapshot: params.metadataSnapshot,
+      config: snapshotConfig,
+      env: params.env,
+      workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
+      index: params.index,
+    })
+      ? params.metadataSnapshot
+      : loadPluginMetadataSnapshot({
+          config: snapshotConfig,
+          workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
+          env: params.env,
+          ...(params.index ? { index: params.index } : {}),
+        });
+  return resolveGatewayStartupPluginPlanFromRegistry({
+    config: params.config,
+    ...(params.activationSourceConfig !== undefined
+      ? { activationSourceConfig: params.activationSourceConfig }
+      : {}),
+    env: params.env,
+    index: metadataSnapshot.index,
+    manifestRegistry: metadataSnapshot.manifestRegistry,
+  });
 }
 
 export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds(params: {
@@ -435,25 +476,5 @@ export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds(params: {
   workspaceDir?: string;
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
 }): string[] {
-  const index = loadPluginRegistrySnapshot({
-    config: params.config,
-    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-    env: params.env,
-  });
-  const manifestRegistry = loadPluginManifestRegistryForInstalledIndex({
-    index,
-    config: params.config,
-    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-    env: params.env,
-    includeDisabled: true,
-  });
-  return resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry({
-    config: params.config,
-    ...(params.activationSourceConfig !== undefined
-      ? { activationSourceConfig: params.activationSourceConfig }
-      : {}),
-    env: params.env,
-    index,
-    manifestRegistry,
-  });
+  return [...loadGatewayStartupPluginPlan(params).pluginIds];
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/plugin-lookup-table.ts b/src/plugins/plugin-lookup-table.ts
index ab09e15057e..3b4089b0a27 100644
--- a/src/plugins/plugin-lookup-table.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/plugin-lookup-table.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import {
-  resolveChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry,
-  resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry,
-  resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry,
+  resolveGatewayStartupPluginPlanFromRegistry,
+  type GatewayStartupPluginPlan,
 } from "./channel-plugin-ids.js";
 import { hashJson } from "./installed-plugin-index-hash.js";
 import {
@@ -15,11 +14,7 @@ import type { PluginRegistrySnapshot } from "./plugin-registry-snapshot.js";
 
 export type PluginLookUpTableOwnerMaps = PluginMetadataSnapshotOwnerMaps;
 
-export type PluginLookUpTableStartupPlan = {
-  channelPluginIds: readonly string[];
-  configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds: readonly string[];
-  pluginIds: readonly string[];
-};
+export type PluginLookUpTableStartupPlan = GatewayStartupPluginPlan;
 
 export type PluginLookUpTableMetrics = {
   registrySnapshotMs: number;
@@ -72,14 +67,7 @@ export function loadPluginLookUpTable(params: LoadPluginLookUpTableParams): Plug
         });
   const { index, manifestRegistry } = metadataSnapshot;
   const startupPlanStartedAt = performance.now();
-  const channelPluginIds = resolveChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry({ manifestRegistry });
-  const configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds = resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIdsFromRegistry({
-    config: params.config,
-    env: params.env,
-    index,
-    manifestRegistry,
-  });
-  const pluginIds = resolveGatewayStartupPluginIdsFromRegistry({
+  const startup = resolveGatewayStartupPluginPlanFromRegistry({
     config: params.config,
     ...(params.activationSourceConfig !== undefined
       ? { activationSourceConfig: params.activationSourceConfig }
@@ -89,11 +77,6 @@ export function loadPluginLookUpTable(params: LoadPluginLookUpTableParams): Plug
     manifestRegistry,
   });
   const startupPlanMs = performance.now() - startupPlanStartedAt;
-  const startup = {
-    channelPluginIds,
-    configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds,
-    pluginIds,
-  };
 
   return {
     ...metadataSnapshot,
@@ -112,8 +95,8 @@ export function loadPluginLookUpTable(params: LoadPluginLookUpTableParams): Plug
       ...metadataSnapshot.metrics,
       startupPlanMs,
       totalMs: metadataSnapshot.metrics.totalMs + startupPlanMs,
-      startupPluginCount: pluginIds.length,
-      deferredChannelPluginCount: configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds.length,
+      startupPluginCount: startup.pluginIds.length,
+      deferredChannelPluginCount: startup.configuredDeferredChannelPluginIds.length,
     },
   };
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts b/src/plugins/plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts
index a55338b7810..fe67eb28037 100644
--- a/src/plugins/plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/plugin-metadata-snapshot.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export type {
   PluginMetadataSnapshotRegistryDiagnostic,
 } from "./plugin-metadata-snapshot.types.js";
 
-function resolvePluginMetadataSnapshotConfigFingerprint(
+function resolvePluginMetadataControlPlaneFingerprint(
   params: Pick<LoadPluginMetadataSnapshotParams, "config" | "env" | "workspaceDir"> & {
     index?: InstalledPluginIndex;
     policyHash?: string;
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export function isPluginMetadataSnapshotCompatible(params: {
     params.snapshot.policyHash === resolveInstalledPluginIndexPolicyHash(params.config) &&
     (!params.snapshot.configFingerprint ||
       params.snapshot.configFingerprint ===
-        resolvePluginMetadataSnapshotConfigFingerprint({
+        resolvePluginMetadataControlPlaneFingerprint({
           config: params.config,
           env,
           index: params.index ?? params.snapshot.index,
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ function loadPluginMetadataSnapshotImpl(
 
   return {
     policyHash: index.policyHash,
-    configFingerprint: resolvePluginMetadataSnapshotConfigFingerprint({
+    configFingerprint: resolvePluginMetadataControlPlaneFingerprint({
       config: params.config,
       env: params.env,
       index,
diff --git a/src/plugins/plugin-registry-contributions.ts b/src/plugins/plugin-registry-contributions.ts
index 1b2107b8637..78311c8b60d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/plugin-registry-contributions.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/plugin-registry-contributions.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import type {
   PluginManifestRegistry,
 } from "./manifest-registry.js";
 import { isPackageIncludedInCoreBundle } from "./manifest.js";
+import type { PluginMetadataSnapshot } from "./plugin-metadata-snapshot.types.js";
 import type { PluginOrigin } from "./plugin-origin.types.js";
 import {
   createPluginRegistryIdNormalizer,
@@ -28,22 +29,10 @@ export {
   type PluginRegistryIdNormalizerOptions,
 } from "./plugin-registry-id-normalizer.js";
 
-export type PluginLookUpTable = {
-  index: PluginRegistrySnapshot;
-  manifestRegistry: PluginManifestRegistry;
-  plugins: readonly PluginManifestRecord[];
-  normalizePluginId: (pluginId: string) => string;
-  owners: {
-    channels: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-    channelConfigs: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-    providers: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-    modelCatalogProviders: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-    cliBackends: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-    setupProviders: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-    commandAliases: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-    contracts: ReadonlyMap<string, readonly string[]>;
-  };
-};
+export type PluginLookUpTable = Pick<
+  PluginMetadataSnapshot,
+  "index" | "manifestRegistry" | "plugins" | "normalizePluginId" | "owners"
+>;
 
 export type PluginRegistryContributionOptions = LoadPluginRegistryParams & {
   includeDisabled?: boolean;
diff --git a/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts b/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts
index 78ad568e9b2..5f3d811455e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts
@@ -153,6 +153,41 @@ describe("bundled plugin public surface loader", () => {
     expect(createJiti).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("does not cache missing public artifact locations", async () => {
+    vi.doMock("./native-module-require.js", () => ({
+      tryNativeRequireJavaScriptModule: (modulePath: string) => ({
+        ok: true,
+        moduleExport: { marker: path.basename(path.dirname(modulePath)) },
+      }),
+    }));
+    vi.resetModules();
+
+    const publicSurfaceLoader = await importFreshModule<
+      typeof import("./public-surface-loader.js")
+    >(import.meta.url, "./public-surface-loader.js?scope=missing-location-retry");
+    const tempRoot = createTempDir();
+    const bundledPluginsDir = path.join(tempRoot, "dist");
+    process.env.OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR = bundledPluginsDir;
+
+    expect(
+      publicSurfaceLoader.resolveBundledPluginPublicArtifactPath({
+        dirName: "demo",
+        artifactBasename: "api.js",
+      }),
+    ).toBeNull();
+
+    const modulePath = path.join(bundledPluginsDir, "demo", "api.js");
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(modulePath), { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(modulePath, 'export const marker = "demo";\n', "utf8");
+
+    expect(
+      publicSurfaceLoader.loadBundledPluginPublicArtifactModuleSync<{ marker: string }>({
+        dirName: "demo",
+        artifactBasename: "api.js",
+      }).marker,
+    ).toBe("demo");
+  });
+
   it("rejects public artifacts that change after boundary validation", async () => {
     const createJiti = vi.fn(() => vi.fn(() => ({ marker: "should-not-load" })));
     vi.doMock("jiti", () => ({
diff --git a/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.ts b/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.ts
index 9ec21204171..f7e880e09e0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const publicSurfaceLocationCache = new Map<
   {
     modulePath: string;
     boundaryRoot: string;
-  } | null
+  }
 >();
 const moduleLoaders: PluginModuleLoaderCache = createPluginModuleLoaderCache();
 
@@ -84,11 +84,14 @@ function resolvePublicSurfaceLocation(params: {
   artifactBasename: string;
 }): { modulePath: string; boundaryRoot: string } | null {
   const key = createResolutionKey(params);
-  if (publicSurfaceLocationCache.has(key)) {
-    return publicSurfaceLocationCache.get(key) ?? null;
+  const cached = publicSurfaceLocationCache.get(key);
+  if (cached) {
+    return cached;
   }
   const resolved = resolvePublicSurfaceLocationUncached(params);
-  publicSurfaceLocationCache.set(key, resolved);
+  if (resolved) {
+    publicSurfaceLocationCache.set(key, resolved);
+  }
   return resolved;
 }