diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/mcp_server_manager.py b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/mcp_server_manager.py
index 9eb44f5597..df9ae0ea57 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/mcp_server_manager.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/mcp_server_manager.py
@@ -8,17 +8,11 @@ This is a Proxy
 
 import asyncio
 import json
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Dict, List, Optional
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from mcp import ClientSession
-    from mcp.client.sse import sse_client
-    from mcp.types import Tool as MCPTool
-else:
-    # Provide fallback types for runtime incase `mcp` is not installed
-    ClientSession = None
-    MCPTool = object
-    sse_client = None
+from mcp import ClientSession
+from mcp.client.sse import sse_client
+from mcp.types import Tool as MCPTool
 
 from litellm._logging import verbose_logger
 from litellm.types.mcp_server.mcp_server_manager import MCPInfo, MCPSSEServer
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
index 510bd6ab3b..603370711f 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ if MCP_AVAILABLE:
                         )
                     )
             except Exception as e:
-                verbose_logger.error(f"Error getting tools from {server.name}: {e}")
+                verbose_logger.exception(f"Error getting tools from {server.name}: {e}")
                 continue
         return list_tools_result
 
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py b/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
index 1a469d2c27..99d665d94c 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
@@ -127,9 +127,6 @@ from litellm.litellm_core_utils.core_helpers import (
 from litellm.litellm_core_utils.credential_accessor import CredentialAccessor
 from litellm.litellm_core_utils.litellm_logging import Logging as LiteLLMLoggingObj
 from litellm.llms.custom_httpx.http_handler import AsyncHTTPHandler, HTTPHandler
-from litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.mcp_server_manager import (
-    global_mcp_server_manager,
-)
 from litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server import router as mcp_router
 from litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.tool_registry import (
     global_mcp_tool_registry,
@@ -1966,6 +1963,10 @@ class ProxyConfig:
 
         mcp_servers_config = config.get("mcp_servers", None)
         if mcp_servers_config:
+            from litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.mcp_server_manager import (
+                global_mcp_server_manager,
+            )
+
             global_mcp_server_manager.load_servers_from_config(mcp_servers_config)
 
         ## CREDENTIALS