diff --git a/src/commands/auth-choice.preferred-provider.ts b/src/commands/auth-choice.preferred-provider.ts
index 959754625bc..49251a88f87 100644
--- a/src/commands/auth-choice.preferred-provider.ts
+++ b/src/commands/auth-choice.preferred-provider.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
-import { resolveProviderPluginChoice } from "../plugins/provider-wizard.js";
-import { resolvePluginProviders } from "../plugins/providers.js";
 import type { AuthChoice } from "./onboard-types.js";
 
 const PREFERRED_PROVIDER_BY_AUTH_CHOICE: Partial<Record<AuthChoice, string>> = {
@@ -53,17 +51,21 @@ const PREFERRED_PROVIDER_BY_AUTH_CHOICE: Partial<Record<AuthChoice, string>> = {
   vllm: "vllm",
 };
 
-export function resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice(params: {
+export async function resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice(params: {
   choice: AuthChoice;
   config?: OpenClawConfig;
   workspaceDir?: string;
   env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
-}): string | undefined {
+}): Promise<string | undefined> {
   const preferred = PREFERRED_PROVIDER_BY_AUTH_CHOICE[params.choice];
   if (preferred) {
     return preferred;
   }
 
+  const [{ resolveProviderPluginChoice }, { resolvePluginProviders }] = await Promise.all([
+    import("../plugins/provider-wizard.js"),
+    import("../plugins/providers.js"),
+  ]);
   const providers = resolvePluginProviders({
     config: params.config,
     workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
diff --git a/src/commands/auth-choice.test.ts b/src/commands/auth-choice.test.ts
index d5a59e48d46..e74c0e1c31f 100644
--- a/src/commands/auth-choice.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/auth-choice.test.ts
@@ -1352,7 +1352,7 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
 });
 
 describe("resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice", () => {
-  it("maps known and unknown auth choices", () => {
+  it("maps known and unknown auth choices", async () => {
     const scenarios = [
       { authChoice: "github-copilot" as const, expectedProvider: "github-copilot" },
       { authChoice: "qwen-portal" as const, expectedProvider: "qwen-portal" },
@@ -1361,9 +1361,9 @@ describe("resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice", () => {
       { authChoice: "unknown" as AuthChoice, expectedProvider: undefined },
     ] as const;
     for (const scenario of scenarios) {
-      expect(resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({ choice: scenario.authChoice })).toBe(
-        scenario.expectedProvider,
-      );
+      await expect(
+        resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({ choice: scenario.authChoice }),
+      ).resolves.toBe(scenario.expectedProvider);
     }
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.prompt-auth-config.test.ts b/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.prompt-auth-config.test.ts
index b27e52fcf7c..0657a77b3e1 100644
--- a/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.prompt-auth-config.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.prompt-auth-config.test.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ vi.mock("./auth-choice-prompt.js", () => ({
 
 vi.mock("./auth-choice.js", () => ({
   applyAuthChoice: mocks.applyAuthChoice,
-  resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice: vi.fn(() => undefined),
+  resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
 }));
 
 vi.mock("./model-picker.js", async (importActual) => {
diff --git a/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.ts b/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.ts
index 78bcc88ca5f..ca56ee25275 100644
--- a/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.ts
+++ b/src/commands/configure.gateway-auth.ts
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ export async function promptAuthConfig(
       allowKeep: true,
       ignoreAllowlist: true,
       includeProviderPluginSetups: true,
-      preferredProvider: resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({
+      preferredProvider: await resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({
         choice: authChoice,
         config: next,
       }),
diff --git a/src/commands/onboard-non-interactive/local/auth-choice.plugin-providers.ts b/src/commands/onboard-non-interactive/local/auth-choice.plugin-providers.ts
index 01007aa7aa2..d6e1440eb20 100644
--- a/src/commands/onboard-non-interactive/local/auth-choice.plugin-providers.ts
+++ b/src/commands/onboard-non-interactive/local/auth-choice.plugin-providers.ts
@@ -64,11 +64,11 @@ export async function applyNonInteractivePluginProviderChoice(params: {
     : undefined;
   const preferredProviderId =
     prefixedProviderId ||
-    resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({
+    (await resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({
       choice: params.authChoice,
       config: params.nextConfig,
       workspaceDir,
-    });
+    }));
   const resolutionConfig = buildIsolatedProviderResolutionConfig(
     params.nextConfig,
     preferredProviderId,
diff --git a/src/wizard/onboarding.test.ts b/src/wizard/onboarding.test.ts
index e6bbfd146fa..14c3183c323 100644
--- a/src/wizard/onboarding.test.ts
+++ b/src/wizard/onboarding.test.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import type { WizardPrompter, WizardSelectParams } from "./prompts.js";
 const ensureAuthProfileStore = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(() => ({ profiles: {} })));
 const promptAuthChoiceGrouped = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(async () => "skip"));
 const applyAuthChoice = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(async (args) => ({ config: args.config })));
-const resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(() => "openai"));
+const resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(async () => "openai"));
 const warnIfModelConfigLooksOff = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(async () => {}));
 const applyPrimaryModel = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn((cfg) => cfg));
 const promptDefaultModel = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(async () => ({ config: null, model: null })));
diff --git a/src/wizard/onboarding.ts b/src/wizard/onboarding.ts
index e8265efd49e..d2c35a022da 100644
--- a/src/wizard/onboarding.ts
+++ b/src/wizard/onboarding.ts
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ export async function runOnboardingWizard(
       allowKeep: true,
       ignoreAllowlist: true,
       includeProviderPluginSetups: true,
-      preferredProvider: resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({
+      preferredProvider: await resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice({
         choice: authChoice,
         config: nextConfig,
         workspaceDir,