diff --git a/src/plugins/loader.test.ts b/src/plugins/loader.test.ts
index f32d04d0d80..efc93d1abdb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/loader.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/loader.test.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ describe("loadOpenClawPlugins", () => {
       id: "bundled",
       body: `export default { id: "bundled", register() {} };`,
       dir: bundledDir,
-      filename: "bundled.ts",
+      filename: "bundled.js",
     });
     process.env.OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR = bundledDir;
 
@@ -121,9 +121,9 @@ describe("loadOpenClawPlugins", () => {
       outbound: { deliveryMode: "direct" }
     }
   });
-} };`,
+	} };`,
       dir: bundledDir,
-      filename: "telegram.ts",
+      filename: "telegram.js",
     });
     process.env.OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR = bundledDir;
 
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ describe("loadOpenClawPlugins", () => {
       id: "memory-core",
       body: `export default { id: "memory-core", kind: "memory", register() {} };`,
       dir: bundledDir,
-      filename: "memory-core.ts",
+      filename: "memory-core.js",
     });
     process.env.OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR = bundledDir;
 
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ describe("loadOpenClawPlugins", () => {
         name: "@openclaw/memory-core",
         version: "1.2.3",
         description: "Memory plugin package",
-        openclaw: { extensions: ["./index.ts"] },
+        openclaw: { extensions: ["./index.js"] },
       }),
       "utf-8",
     );
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ describe("loadOpenClawPlugins", () => {
       id: "memory-core",
       body: `export default { id: "memory-core", kind: "memory", name: "Memory (Core)", register() {} };`,
       dir: pluginDir,
-      filename: "index.ts",
+      filename: "index.js",
     });
 
     process.env.OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR = bundledDir;
diff --git a/src/plugins/loader.ts b/src/plugins/loader.ts
index 9365f584fe3..1d16939b8a3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/loader.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/loader.ts
@@ -220,22 +220,30 @@ export function loadOpenClawPlugins(options: PluginLoadOptions = {}): PluginRegi
   });
   pushDiagnostics(registry.diagnostics, manifestRegistry.diagnostics);
 
-  const pluginSdkAlias = resolvePluginSdkAlias();
-  const pluginSdkAccountIdAlias = resolvePluginSdkAccountIdAlias();
-  const jiti = createJiti(import.meta.url, {
-    interopDefault: true,
-    extensions: [".ts", ".tsx", ".mts", ".cts", ".mtsx", ".ctsx", ".js", ".mjs", ".cjs", ".json"],
-    ...(pluginSdkAlias || pluginSdkAccountIdAlias
-      ? {
-          alias: {
-            ...(pluginSdkAlias ? { "openclaw/plugin-sdk": pluginSdkAlias } : {}),
-            ...(pluginSdkAccountIdAlias
-              ? { "openclaw/plugin-sdk/account-id": pluginSdkAccountIdAlias }
-              : {}),
-          },
-        }
-      : {}),
-  });
+  // Lazy: avoid creating the Jiti loader when all plugins are disabled (common in unit tests).
+  let jitiLoader: ReturnType<typeof createJiti> | null = null;
+  const getJiti = () => {
+    if (jitiLoader) {
+      return jitiLoader;
+    }
+    const pluginSdkAlias = resolvePluginSdkAlias();
+    const pluginSdkAccountIdAlias = resolvePluginSdkAccountIdAlias();
+    jitiLoader = createJiti(import.meta.url, {
+      interopDefault: true,
+      extensions: [".ts", ".tsx", ".mts", ".cts", ".mtsx", ".ctsx", ".js", ".mjs", ".cjs", ".json"],
+      ...(pluginSdkAlias || pluginSdkAccountIdAlias
+        ? {
+            alias: {
+              ...(pluginSdkAlias ? { "openclaw/plugin-sdk": pluginSdkAlias } : {}),
+              ...(pluginSdkAccountIdAlias
+                ? { "openclaw/plugin-sdk/account-id": pluginSdkAccountIdAlias }
+                : {}),
+            },
+          }
+        : {}),
+    });
+    return jitiLoader;
+  };
 
   const manifestByRoot = new Map(
     manifestRegistry.plugins.map((record) => [record.rootDir, record]),
@@ -312,7 +320,7 @@ export function loadOpenClawPlugins(options: PluginLoadOptions = {}): PluginRegi
 
     let mod: OpenClawPluginModule | null = null;
     try {
-      mod = jiti(candidate.source) as OpenClawPluginModule;
+      mod = getJiti()(candidate.source) as OpenClawPluginModule;
     } catch (err) {
       logger.error(`[plugins] ${record.id} failed to load from ${record.source}: ${String(err)}`);
       record.status = "error";
diff --git a/src/plugins/manifest-registry.ts b/src/plugins/manifest-registry.ts
index eb249066dad..9dc3102a6f8 100644
--- a/src/plugins/manifest-registry.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/manifest-registry.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,14 @@ function buildCacheKey(params: {
   plugins: NormalizedPluginsConfig;
 }): string {
   const workspaceKey = params.workspaceDir ? resolveUserPath(params.workspaceDir) : "";
-  return `${workspaceKey}::${JSON.stringify(params.plugins)}`;
+  // The manifest registry only depends on where plugins are discovered from (workspace + load paths).
+  // It does not depend on allow/deny/entries enable-state, so exclude those for higher cache hit rates.
+  const loadPaths = params.plugins.loadPaths
+    .map((p) => resolveUserPath(p))
+    .map((p) => p.trim())
+    .filter(Boolean)
+    .toSorted();
+  return `${workspaceKey}::${JSON.stringify(loadPaths)}`;
 }
 
 function safeStatMtimeMs(filePath: string): number | null {