diff --git a/openevolve/_version.py b/openevolve/_version.py
index ddad2c119..858741097 100644
--- a/openevolve/_version.py
+++ b/openevolve/_version.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 """Version information for openevolve package."""
 
-__version__ = "0.2.21"
+__version__ = "0.2.22"
diff --git a/openevolve/embedding.py b/openevolve/embedding.py
index 74d3c57ab..4016bd4b3 100644
--- a/openevolve/embedding.py
+++ b/openevolve/embedding.py
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ def __init__(
     
     def _get_client_model(self, model_name: str) -> tuple[openai.OpenAI, str]:
         if model_name in OPENAI_EMBEDDING_MODELS:
-            client = openai.OpenAI()
+            # Use OPENAI_EMBEDDING_API_KEY if set, otherwise fall back to OPENAI_API_KEY
+            # This allows users to use OpenRouter for LLMs while using OpenAI for embeddings
+            embedding_api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_EMBEDDING_API_KEY") or os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
+            client = openai.OpenAI(api_key=embedding_api_key)
             model_to_use = model_name
         elif model_name in AZURE_EMBEDDING_MODELS:
             # get rid of the azure- prefix