diff --git a/src/embedding_client.py b/src/embedding_client.py
index 208d9d71..92edab68 100644
--- a/src/embedding_client.py
+++ b/src/embedding_client.py
@@ -677,8 +677,19 @@ class EmbeddingClient:
 
     @property
     def encoding(self) -> tiktoken.Encoding:
-        """Get the tiktoken encoding."""
-        return self._get_client().encoding
+        """Get the tiktoken encoding.
+
+        Resolved without constructing the underlying client: tiktoken needs no
+        API key, and token-counting callers (e.g. the document dedup tie-break)
+        must work in environments with no embedding credentials, such as CI for
+        pull requests from forks.
+        """
+        if self._instance is not None:
+            return self._instance.encoding
+        try:
+            return tiktoken.encoding_for_model(self._resolve_runtime_config().model)
+        except KeyError:
+            return tiktoken.get_encoding("cl100k_base")
 
 
 # Shared singleton embedding client instance