diff --git a/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/__init__.py b/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/__init__.py
index a68b6a276..837e890fb 100644
--- a/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/__init__.py
+++ b/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import logging
+
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.dummy.configuration  # noqa
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.dummy.pipelines  # noqa
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.http.configuration  # noqa
@@ -10,7 +12,6 @@
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.nop.configuration  # noqa
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.nop.pipelines  # noqa
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.ollama.configuration  # noqa
-import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.ollama.pipelines  # noqa
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.wca.configuration_dummy  # noqa
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.wca.configuration_onprem  # noqa
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.wca.configuration_saas  # noqa
@@ -19,4 +20,10 @@
 import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.wca.pipelines_saas  # noqa
 from ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.registry import set_defaults
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+try:
+    import ansible_ai_connect.ai.api.model_pipelines.ollama.pipelines  # noqa
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    logger.info("ollama support disabled because dependencies are missing")
+
 set_defaults()
diff --git a/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/registry.py b/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/registry.py
index 8cd4125cb..3a408d77d 100644
--- a/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/registry.py
+++ b/ansible_ai_connect/ai/api/model_pipelines/registry.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def v_or_default(k, v):
             defaults = REGISTRY["nop"]
             if v is None:
                 logger.debug(
-                    f"'{k.alias()}' is not available for provider '{pipeline_provider}',"
+                    f"'{k}' is not available for provider '{pipeline_provider}',"
                     " failing back to 'nop'"
                 )
                 return defaults[k]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6ca721cd3..ad0f82730 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ dependencies = [
   'jwcrypto~=1.5.6',
   'jinja2~=3.1.6',
   'langchain~=0.3.10',
-  'langchain-ollama~=0.3.5',
   'launchdarkly-server-sdk~=8.3.0',
   'llama-stack-client>=0.2.12',
   'protobuf~=5.29.5',
@@ -58,6 +57,9 @@ classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
 ]
 
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+ollama = ['langchain-ollama~=0.3.5']
+
 [project.urls]
 Homepage = "https://github.com/ansible/ansible-ai-connect-service"
 
diff --git a/requirements-aarch64.txt b/requirements-aarch64.txt
index c3514917b..7fca2e7a8 100644
--- a/requirements-aarch64.txt
+++ b/requirements-aarch64.txt
@@ -258,7 +258,6 @@ langchain-core==0.3.69
     #   langchain
     #   langchain-ollama
     #   langchain-text-splitters
-langchain-ollama==0.3.5
     # via -r requirements.in
 langchain-text-splitters==0.3.8
     # via langchain
@@ -297,8 +296,6 @@ oauthlib==3.2.2
     #   social-auth-core
 odfpy==1.4.1
     # via tablib
-ollama==0.5.1
-    # via langchain-ollama
 openpyxl==3.1.2
     # via tablib
 orjson==3.10.1
diff --git a/requirements-x86_64.txt b/requirements-x86_64.txt
index f12010c55..0baae524c 100644
--- a/requirements-x86_64.txt
+++ b/requirements-x86_64.txt
@@ -258,7 +258,6 @@ langchain-core==0.3.69
     #   langchain
     #   langchain-ollama
     #   langchain-text-splitters
-langchain-ollama==0.3.5
     # via -r requirements.in
 langchain-text-splitters==0.3.8
     # via langchain
@@ -297,8 +296,6 @@ oauthlib==3.2.2
     #   social-auth-core
 odfpy==1.4.1
     # via tablib
-ollama==0.5.1
-    # via langchain-ollama
 openpyxl==3.1.2
     # via tablib
 orjson==3.10.1
diff --git a/requirements.in b/requirements.in
index 75d9accf5..9ad733f17 100644
--- a/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements.in
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ jinja2==3.1.6
 # remove this once ansible-risk-insight is updated
 jsonpickle==3.3.0
 langchain==0.3.26
-langchain-ollama==0.3.5
 launchdarkly-server-sdk==8.3.0
 llama-stack-client>=0.2.12
 protobuf==5.29.5