diff --git a/docker/pyproject.deps.toml b/docker/pyproject.deps.toml
index 7706239..b96e04f 100644
--- a/docker/pyproject.deps.toml
+++ b/docker/pyproject.deps.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "mcp-plex"
-version = "1.0.3"
+version = "1.0.5"
 requires-python = ">=3.11,<3.13"
 dependencies = [
   "fastmcp>=2.11.2",
diff --git a/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py b/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py
index 9f9ff43..eda25d2 100644
--- a/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py
+++ b/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 from qdrant_client import models
 from qdrant_client.async_qdrant_client import AsyncQdrantClient
 
+from plexapi.base import PlexPartialObject as _PlexPartialObject
+from plexapi.server import PlexServer
+
 from .imdb_cache import IMDbCache
 from .pipeline.channels import (
     IMDbRetryQueue,
@@ -37,13 +40,7 @@
     TMDBShow,
 )
 
-try:  # Only import plexapi when available; the sample data mode does not require it.
-    from plexapi.base import PlexPartialObject
-    from plexapi.server import PlexServer
-except Exception:
-    PlexServer = None  # type: ignore[assignment]
-    PlexPartialObject = object  # type: ignore[assignment]
-
+PlexPartialObject = _PlexPartialObject
 
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py
index 0d26cf0..2529f0a 100644
--- a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py
+++ b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py
@@ -10,17 +10,21 @@
 import asyncio
 from collections import deque
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Final, Iterable, Sequence, TypeVar, TypeAlias
+from typing import (
+    TYPE_CHECKING,
+    Any,
+    Final,
+    Iterable,
+    Literal,
+    Sequence,
+    TypeAlias,
+    TypeVar,
+)
 
 from ...common.types import AggregatedItem
 from ...common.validation import require_positive
 
-try:  # Only import plexapi when available; the sample data mode does not require it.
-    from plexapi.base import PlexPartialObject
-    from plexapi.video import Episode, Movie, Show
-except Exception:
-    PlexPartialObject = object  # type: ignore[assignment]
-    Episode = Movie = Show = PlexPartialObject  # type: ignore[assignment]
+from plexapi.video import Episode, Movie, Show
 
 T = TypeVar("T")
 
@@ -29,6 +33,7 @@
 
 
 INGEST_DONE: Final = object()
+IngestSentinel: TypeAlias = Literal[INGEST_DONE]
 """Sentinel object signaling that ingestion has completed.
 
 The loader currently places ``None`` on ingestion queues in addition to this
@@ -36,6 +41,7 @@
 """
 
 PERSIST_DONE: Final = object()
+PersistenceSentinel: TypeAlias = Literal[PERSIST_DONE]
 """Sentinel object signaling that persistence has completed."""
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -68,8 +74,10 @@ class SampleBatch:
 
 IngestBatch = MovieBatch | EpisodeBatch | SampleBatch
 
-IngestQueueItem: TypeAlias = IngestBatch | None | object
-PersistenceQueueItem: TypeAlias = PersistencePayload | None | object
+IngestQueueItem: TypeAlias = IngestBatch | None | IngestSentinel
+PersistenceQueueItem: TypeAlias = (
+    PersistencePayload | None | PersistenceSentinel
+)
 
 IngestQueue: TypeAlias = asyncio.Queue[IngestQueueItem]
 PersistenceQueue: TypeAlias = asyncio.Queue[PersistenceQueueItem]
@@ -125,7 +133,9 @@ def snapshot(self) -> list[str]:
     "SampleBatch",
     "IngestBatch",
     "INGEST_DONE",
+    "IngestSentinel",
     "PERSIST_DONE",
+    "PersistenceSentinel",
     "IngestQueue",
     "PersistenceQueue",
     "chunk_sequence",
diff --git a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/enrichment.py b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/enrichment.py
index ad504d6..b471aa4 100644
--- a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/enrichment.py
+++ b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/enrichment.py
@@ -46,14 +46,10 @@
 )
 from ..imdb_cache import IMDbCache
 
-
-LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+from plexapi.base import PlexPartialObject
 
 
-try:  # Only import plexapi when available; the sample data mode does not require it.
-    from plexapi.base import PlexPartialObject
-except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - plexapi is optional in tests
-    PlexPartialObject = object  # type: ignore[assignment]
+LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 def _extract_external_ids(item: PlexPartialObject) -> ExternalIDs:
diff --git a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/ingestion.py b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/ingestion.py
index fd773b6..83460a8 100644
--- a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/ingestion.py
+++ b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/ingestion.py
@@ -9,26 +9,20 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import logging
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Sequence
+from typing import Sequence
 
 from ...common.types import AggregatedItem
 from .channels import (
     EpisodeBatch,
     IngestQueue,
+    IngestSentinel,
     MovieBatch,
     SampleBatch,
     chunk_sequence,
 )
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:  # pragma: no cover - imported for typing
-    from plexapi.server import PlexServer
-    from plexapi.video import Episode, Movie, Season, Show
-else:  # pragma: no cover - runtime import with graceful fallback
-    try:
-        from plexapi.server import PlexServer
-        from plexapi.video import Episode, Movie, Season, Show
-    except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - plexapi optional at runtime
-        PlexServer = Movie = Show = Season = Episode = object  # type: ignore[assignment]
+from plexapi.server import PlexServer
+from plexapi.video import Episode, Movie, Season, Show
 
 
 class IngestionStage:
@@ -43,7 +37,7 @@ def __init__(
         episode_batch_size: int,
         sample_batch_size: int,
         output_queue: IngestQueue,
-        completion_sentinel: object,
+        completion_sentinel: IngestSentinel,
     ) -> None:
         self._plex_server = plex_server
         self._sample_items = list(sample_items) if sample_items is not None else None
@@ -51,7 +45,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._episode_batch_size = int(episode_batch_size)
         self._sample_batch_size = int(sample_batch_size)
         self._output_queue = output_queue
-        self._completion_sentinel = completion_sentinel
+        self._completion_sentinel: IngestSentinel = completion_sentinel
         self._logger = logging.getLogger("mcp_plex.loader.ingestion")
         self._items_ingested = 0
         self._batches_ingested = 0
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index be47240..a1367f0 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "mcp-plex"
-version = "1.0.3"
+version = "1.0.5"
 
 description = "Plex-Oriented Model Context Protocol Server"
 requires-python = ">=3.11,<3.13"
diff --git a/tests/test_ingestion_stage.py b/tests/test_ingestion_stage.py
index aa15b31..d4a9ba0 100644
--- a/tests/test_ingestion_stage.py
+++ b/tests/test_ingestion_stage.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import asyncio
 import logging
-from typing import cast
 from unittest.mock import Mock, create_autospec
 
 import pytest
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@
 from mcp_plex.loader.pipeline.channels import (
     INGEST_DONE,
     EpisodeBatch,
+    IngestSentinel,
     MovieBatch,
     SampleBatch,
 )
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def test_ingestion_stage_logger_name() -> None:
     async def scenario() -> str:
         queue: asyncio.Queue = asyncio.Queue()
         stage = IngestionStage(
-            plex_server=cast(PlexServer, object()),
+            plex_server=create_autospec(PlexServer, instance=True),
             sample_items=None,
             movie_batch_size=50,
             episode_batch_size=25,
@@ -47,9 +47,7 @@ async def scenario() -> str:
 
 
 def test_ingestion_stage_sample_empty_batches() -> None:
-    sentinel = object()
-
-    async def scenario() -> tuple[object | None, object | None, bool, int, int]:
+    async def scenario() -> tuple[SampleBatch | None, None | IngestSentinel, bool, int, int]:
         queue: asyncio.Queue = asyncio.Queue()
         stage = IngestionStage(
             plex_server=None,
@@ -58,7 +56,7 @@ async def scenario() -> tuple[object | None, object | None, bool, int, int]:
             episode_batch_size=1,
             sample_batch_size=2,
             output_queue=queue,
-            completion_sentinel=sentinel,
+            completion_sentinel=INGEST_DONE,
         )
 
         await stage.run()
@@ -70,16 +68,20 @@ async def scenario() -> tuple[object | None, object | None, bool, int, int]:
     first, second, empty, items_ingested, batches_ingested = asyncio.run(scenario())
 
     assert first is None
-    assert second is sentinel
+    assert second is INGEST_DONE
     assert empty is True
     assert items_ingested == 0
     assert batches_ingested == 0
 
 
 def test_ingestion_stage_sample_partial_batches() -> None:
-    sentinel = object()
-
-    async def scenario() -> tuple[list[SampleBatch], object | None, object | None, int, int]:
+    async def scenario() -> tuple[
+        list[SampleBatch],
+        None | SampleBatch,
+        None | IngestSentinel,
+        int,
+        int,
+    ]:
         queue: asyncio.Queue = asyncio.Queue()
         sample_items = [
             _make_aggregated_item("1"),
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ async def scenario() -> tuple[list[SampleBatch], object | None, object | None, i
             episode_batch_size=1,
             sample_batch_size=2,
             output_queue=queue,
-            completion_sentinel=sentinel,
+            completion_sentinel=INGEST_DONE,
         )
 
         await stage.run()
@@ -110,15 +112,19 @@ async def scenario() -> tuple[list[SampleBatch], object | None, object | None, i
     assert all(isinstance(batch, SampleBatch) for batch in batches)
     assert [len(batch.items) for batch in batches] == [2, 1]
     assert first_token is None
-    assert second_token is sentinel
+    assert second_token is INGEST_DONE
     assert items_ingested == 3
     assert batches_ingested == 2
 
 
 def test_ingestion_stage_backpressure_handling() -> None:
-    sentinel = object()
-
-    async def scenario() -> tuple[list[SampleBatch], object | None, object | None, int, int]:
+    async def scenario() -> tuple[
+        list[SampleBatch],
+        None | SampleBatch,
+        None | IngestSentinel,
+        int,
+        int,
+    ]:
         queue: asyncio.Queue = asyncio.Queue(maxsize=1)
         sample_items = [
             _make_aggregated_item("1"),
@@ -131,7 +137,7 @@ async def scenario() -> tuple[list[SampleBatch], object | None, object | None, i
             episode_batch_size=1,
             sample_batch_size=1,
             output_queue=queue,
-            completion_sentinel=sentinel,
+            completion_sentinel=INGEST_DONE,
         )
 
         run_task = asyncio.create_task(stage.run())
@@ -155,7 +161,7 @@ async def scenario() -> tuple[list[SampleBatch], object | None, object | None, i
 
     assert [len(batch.items) for batch in batches] == [1, 1]
     assert first_token is None
-    assert second_token is sentinel
+    assert second_token is INGEST_DONE
     assert items_ingested == 2
     assert batches_ingested == 2
 
@@ -163,9 +169,7 @@ async def scenario() -> tuple[list[SampleBatch], object | None, object | None, i
 def test_ingestion_stage_ingest_plex_batches_movies_and_episodes(caplog) -> None:
     caplog.set_level(logging.INFO)
 
-    sentinel = object()
-
-    async def scenario() -> tuple[list[object], int, int, Mock]:
+    async def scenario() -> tuple[list[MovieBatch | EpisodeBatch], int, int, Mock]:
         queue: asyncio.Queue = asyncio.Queue()
 
         movie_section = Mock()
@@ -213,7 +217,7 @@ def _episodes(titles: list[str]) -> list[Episode]:
             episode_batch_size=2,
             sample_batch_size=10,
             output_queue=queue,
-            completion_sentinel=sentinel,
+            completion_sentinel=INGEST_DONE,
         )
 
         await stage._ingest_plex(
@@ -224,7 +228,7 @@ def _episodes(titles: list[str]) -> list[Episode]:
             logger=stage.logger,
         )
 
-        batches: list[object] = []
+        batches: list[MovieBatch | EpisodeBatch] = []
         while not queue.empty():
             batches.append(await queue.get())
 
diff --git a/tests/test_loader_unit.py b/tests/test_loader_unit.py
index d0adaee..f002061 100644
--- a/tests/test_loader_unit.py
+++ b/tests/test_loader_unit.py
@@ -55,19 +55,26 @@ def make_imdb_config(
     )
 
 
-def test_loader_import_fallback(monkeypatch):
+def test_loader_import_requires_plexapi(monkeypatch):
     real_import = builtins.__import__
 
     def fake_import(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=(), level=0):
         if name.startswith("plexapi"):
-            raise ModuleNotFoundError
+            raise ModuleNotFoundError("forced plexapi failure")
         return real_import(name, globals, locals, fromlist, level)
 
-    monkeypatch.setattr(builtins, "__import__", fake_import)
+    with monkeypatch.context() as ctx:
+        ctx.setattr(builtins, "__import__", fake_import)
+        with pytest.raises(ModuleNotFoundError):
+            importlib.reload(loader)
+
     module = importlib.reload(loader)
-    assert module.PlexServer is None
-    assert module.PlexPartialObject is object
-    importlib.reload(loader)
+    from plexapi.base import PlexPartialObject
+    from plexapi.server import PlexServer
+
+    assert module.PlexServer is PlexServer
+    assert module.PlexPartialObject is PlexPartialObject
+    assert not hasattr(module, "PartialPlexObject")
 def test_load_from_sample_returns_items():
     sample_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "sample-data"
     items = _load_from_sample(sample_dir)
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index c4af9f7..a3b2604 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -730,7 +730,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "mcp-plex"
-version = "1.0.3"
+version = "1.0.5"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "fastapi" },