diff --git a/src/lib/resume-parser.test.ts b/src/lib/resume-parser.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ba2f780
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/resume-parser.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+  vi.resetModules();
+});
+
+describe("resume-parser module", () => {
+  it("can be imported without an OpenAI API key", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("OPENAI_API_KEY", "");
+
+    await expect(import("./resume-parser")).resolves.toHaveProperty(
+      "parseResumeFile"
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/resume-parser.ts b/src/lib/resume-parser.ts
index 62ac408f..516c33c8 100644
--- a/src/lib/resume-parser.ts
+++ b/src/lib/resume-parser.ts
@@ -34,9 +34,13 @@ export interface ParsedResumeProfile {
   };
 }
 
-const openai = new OpenAI({
-  apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY,
-});
+function getOpenAIClient() {
+  const apiKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
+  if (!apiKey) {
+    throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not configured");
+  }
+  return new OpenAI({ apiKey });
+}
 
 // Use OpenAI to parse resume text into structured data
 async function parseWithOpenAI(text: string): Promise<ParsedResumeProfile> {
@@ -82,6 +86,7 @@ Resume text:
 ${text}`;
 
   try {
+    const openai = getOpenAIClient();
     const response = await openai.chat.completions.create({
       model: "gpt-4o-mini",
       messages: [