diff --git a/tests/tools/test_tts_dotenv_fallback.py b/tests/tools/test_tts_dotenv_fallback.py
index ed72a78ade6..37618db59aa 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_tts_dotenv_fallback.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_tts_dotenv_fallback.py
@@ -34,9 +34,12 @@ def isolate_env(monkeypatch):
 
 class TestDotenvFallbackPerProvider:
     """For each affected provider, when only ``~/.hermes/.env`` carries the
-    key (mocked via ``hermes_cli.config.load_env``), the provider must find
-    it. Before the fix, ``os.getenv`` returned ``None`` and the provider
-    raised ``ValueError("X_API_KEY not set")``.
+    key, the provider must find it. These per-provider tests model that
+    dotenv-backed lookup by mocking ``tools.tts_tool.get_env_value`` directly;
+    the separate regression-guard tests cover the lower-level
+    ``hermes_cli.config.load_env`` integration. Before the fix, ``os.getenv``
+    returned ``None`` and the provider raised
+    ``ValueError("X_API_KEY not set")``.
     """
 
     def test_elevenlabs_reads_dotenv_key(self, tmp_path):
diff --git a/tools/tts_tool.py b/tools/tts_tool.py
index ae01843a8f4..30300f21449 100644
--- a/tools/tts_tool.py
+++ b/tools/tts_tool.py
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ from urllib.parse import urljoin
 from hermes_constants import display_hermes_home
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-from hermes_cli.config import get_env_value
+try:
+    from hermes_cli.config import get_env_value
+except ImportError:
+    def get_env_value(name, default=None):
+        return os.getenv(name, default)
 from tools.managed_tool_gateway import resolve_managed_tool_gateway
 from tools.tool_backend_helpers import managed_nous_tools_enabled, prefers_gateway, resolve_openai_audio_api_key
 from tools.xai_http import hermes_xai_user_agent