diff --git a/backend/rag/index_builder.py b/backend/rag/index_builder.py
index 2488250..edada5b 100644
--- a/backend/rag/index_builder.py
+++ b/backend/rag/index_builder.py
@@ -55,7 +55,11 @@ import threading
 import numpy as np
 import requests
 import faiss
-from tqdm import tqdm
+
+try:
+    from tqdm import tqdm
+except ImportError:
+    tqdm = None
 
 # -----------------------------
 # IO