diff --git a/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts b/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts
index 0367fcc..1291d64 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
-import { DatabaseSync } from 'node:sqlite'
 import { getActiveProfileDir } from './hermes-profile'
 
+const SQLITE_AVAILABLE = (() => {
+  const [major, minor] = process.versions.node.split('.').map(Number)
+  return major > 22 || (major === 22 && minor >= 5)
+})()
+
 export interface HermesSessionRow {
   id: string
   source: string
@@ -115,6 +119,11 @@ const BASE_SELECT = `
 `
 
 export async function listSessionSummaries(source?: string, limit = 2000): Promise<HermesSessionRow[]> {
+  if (!SQLITE_AVAILABLE) {
+    throw new Error(`node:sqlite requires Node >= 22.5, current: ${process.versions.node}`)
+  }
+
+  const { DatabaseSync } = await import('node:sqlite')
   const db = new DatabaseSync(sessionDbPath(), { open: true, readOnly: true })
 
   try {
diff --git a/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts b/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts
index 22efa3a..c0f0256 100644
--- a/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts
+++ b/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const closeMock = vi.fn()
 const databaseSyncMock = vi.fn(() => ({ prepare: prepareMock, close: closeMock }))
 const getActiveProfileDirMock = vi.fn(() => '/tmp/hermes-profile')
 
-vi.mock('node:sqlite', () => ({
+vi.doMock('node:sqlite', () => ({
   DatabaseSync: databaseSyncMock,
 }))