diff --git a/src/CacheHandler.cts b/src/CacheHandler.cts
index 39db41a..ab9565d 100644
--- a/src/CacheHandler.cts
+++ b/src/CacheHandler.cts
@@ -8,7 +8,20 @@ import type {
 	SetIncrementalResponseCacheContext,
 } from 'next/dist/server/response-cache/index.d.ts';
 
-import { databases } from 'harper';
+// Type-only import: erased at compile time so `harper` is never resolved when this
+// module is loaded from a non-Harper context (e.g. Next.js's build worker, which
+// requires the cacheHandler path directly via Node's `require`, bypassing webpack
+// externals and serverExternalPackages).
+import type { databases as DatabasesType } from 'harper';
+
+// `databases` is a Harper-provided global registered when the plugin is loaded
+// in-process by Harper. Resolve it lazily so loading this file in a build worker
+// does not pull in the harper runtime — which would otherwise try to register
+// native worker hooks a second time and crash with "Worker creator already
+// registered", restarting the HTTP worker until Harper gives up.
+function getDatabases(): typeof DatabasesType | undefined {
+	return (globalThis as { databases?: typeof DatabasesType }).databases;
+}
 
 export default class HarperCacheHandler implements CacheHandler {
 	constructor() {}
@@ -17,6 +30,9 @@ export default class HarperCacheHandler implements CacheHandler {
 		key: string,
 		_ctx: GetIncrementalFetchCacheContext | GetIncrementalResponseCacheContext
 	): Promise<CacheHandlerValue | null> {
+		const databases = getDatabases();
+		if (!databases) return null;
+
 		const table = databases.harperfast_nextjs.nextjs_isr_cache;
 		const record = await table.get(key);
 		if (!record) return null;
@@ -36,6 +52,9 @@ export default class HarperCacheHandler implements CacheHandler {
 		data: IncrementalCacheValue | null,
 		_ctx: SetIncrementalFetchCacheContext | SetIncrementalResponseCacheContext
 	): Promise<void> {
+		const databases = getDatabases();
+		if (!databases) return;
+
 		const table = databases.harperfast_nextjs.nextjs_isr_cache;
 		await table.put(key, {
 			data,