diff --git a/src/shared/posthog.test.ts b/src/shared/posthog.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2f278add
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/posthog.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, mock } from "bun:test"
+
+async function importPostHogModule(): Promise<typeof import("./posthog")> {
+  return import(`./posthog?test=${Date.now()}-${Math.random()}`)
+}
+
+describe("posthog client creation", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    mock.restore()
+    delete process.env.OMO_DISABLE_POSTHOG
+    delete process.env.OMO_SEND_ANONYMOUS_TELEMETRY
+    delete process.env.POSTHOG_API_KEY
+    delete process.env.POSTHOG_HOST
+  })
+
+  it("returns a no-op client when PostHog construction throws", async () => {
+    // given
+    process.env.OMO_DISABLE_POSTHOG = "0"
+    process.env.OMO_SEND_ANONYMOUS_TELEMETRY = "1"
+    process.env.POSTHOG_API_KEY = "test-api-key"
+
+    mock.module("posthog-node", () => ({
+      PostHog: class {
+        constructor() {
+          throw new Error("posthog init failed")
+        }
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const { createCliPostHog, createPluginPostHog } = await importPostHogModule()
+
+    // when
+    const cliPostHog = createCliPostHog()
+    const pluginPostHog = createPluginPostHog()
+
+    // then
+    expect(() =>
+      cliPostHog.capture({
+        distinctId: "cli",
+        event: "run_started",
+      }),
+    ).not.toThrow()
+    expect(() => cliPostHog.captureException(new Error("cli failure"), "cli")).not.toThrow()
+    expect(() => cliPostHog.trackActive("cli", "run_started")).not.toThrow()
+    await expect(cliPostHog.shutdown()).resolves.toBeUndefined()
+
+    expect(() =>
+      pluginPostHog.capture({
+        distinctId: "plugin",
+        event: "plugin_loaded",
+      }),
+    ).not.toThrow()
+    expect(() => pluginPostHog.captureException(new Error("plugin failure"), "plugin")).not.toThrow()
+    expect(() => pluginPostHog.trackActive("plugin", "plugin_loaded")).not.toThrow()
+    await expect(pluginPostHog.shutdown()).resolves.toBeUndefined()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/shared/posthog.ts b/src/shared/posthog.ts
index 22981d8ca..bcda54588 100644
--- a/src/shared/posthog.ts
+++ b/src/shared/posthog.ts
@@ -87,11 +87,17 @@ function createPostHogClient(
     return NO_OP_POSTHOG
   }
 
-  const configuredClient = new PostHog(getPostHogApiKey(), {
-    ...options,
-    host: getPostHogHost(),
-    disableGeoip: false,
-  })
+  let configuredClient: PostHog
+
+  try {
+    configuredClient = new PostHog(getPostHogApiKey(), {
+      ...options,
+      host: getPostHogHost(),
+      disableGeoip: false,
+    })
+  } catch {
+    return NO_OP_POSTHOG
+  }
   const sharedProperties = getSharedProperties(source)
 
   return {