diff --git a/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs b/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs
index 8dc2ba5832d..553fe9cfbe9 100644
--- a/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs
+++ b/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs
@@ -117,6 +117,11 @@ const BAILEYS_MEDIA_ONCE_IMPORT_RE = /import\s+\{\s*once\s*\}\s+from\s+['"]event
 const BAILEYS_MEDIA_ASYNC_CONTEXT_RE =
   /async\s+function\s+encryptedStream|encryptedStream\s*=\s*async/u;
 
+function hasEnvFlag(env, key) {
+  const value = env?.[key]?.trim().toLowerCase();
+  return Boolean(value && value !== "0" && value !== "false" && value !== "no");
+}
+
 function readJson(filePath) {
   return JSON.parse(readFileSync(filePath, "utf8"));
 }
@@ -666,7 +671,7 @@ export async function runPluginRegistryPostinstallMigration(params = {}) {
   const packageRoot = params.packageRoot ?? DEFAULT_PACKAGE_ROOT;
   const env = params.env ?? process.env;
 
-  if (env[DISABLE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION_ENV]?.trim()) {
+  if (hasEnvFlag(env, DISABLE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION_ENV)) {
     return { status: "disabled", migrated: false, reason: "disabled-env" };
   }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.test.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.test.ts
index 3511a025650..413a0dfa1f5 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   makeTrackedTempDir,
 } from "../../../plugins/test-helpers/fs-fixtures.js";
 import {
+  DISABLE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION_ENV,
   FORCE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION_ENV,
   migratePluginRegistryForInstall,
   preflightPluginRegistryInstallMigration,
@@ -268,4 +269,23 @@ describe("plugin registry install migration", () => {
       ],
     });
   });
+
+  it("treats falsey env flag strings as unset", async () => {
+    const stateDir = makeTempDir();
+    await writePersistedInstalledPluginIndex(createCurrentIndex(), { stateDir });
+
+    expect(
+      preflightPluginRegistryInstallMigration({
+        stateDir,
+        env: hermeticEnv({
+          [DISABLE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION_ENV]: "0",
+          [FORCE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION_ENV]: "false",
+        }),
+      }),
+    ).toMatchObject({
+      action: "skip-existing",
+      force: false,
+      deprecationWarnings: [],
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.ts
index 8feb62a6713..f94e34bca5e 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor/shared/plugin-registry-migration.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ export type PluginRegistryInstallMigrationParams = LoadInstalledPluginIndexParam
   };
 
 function hasEnvFlag(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv | undefined, key: string): boolean {
-  return Boolean(env?.[key]?.trim());
+  const value = env?.[key]?.trim().toLowerCase();
+  return Boolean(value && value !== "0" && value !== "false" && value !== "no");
 }
 
 function forceDeprecationWarning(): string {
diff --git a/test/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.test.ts b/test/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.test.ts
index ee0d08f9a7f..63a9b5152da 100644
--- a/test/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.test.ts
@@ -349,6 +349,33 @@ describe("bundled plugin postinstall", () => {
     expect(importModule).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("does not disable plugin registry migration for falsey env flag strings", async () => {
+    const migratePluginRegistryForInstall = vi.fn(async () => ({
+      status: "skip-existing",
+      migrated: false,
+      preflight: {},
+    }));
+    const importModule = vi.fn(async () => ({ migratePluginRegistryForInstall }));
+
+    await expect(
+      runPluginRegistryPostinstallMigration({
+        packageRoot: "/pkg",
+        env: { OPENCLAW_DISABLE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION: "0" },
+        existsSync: vi.fn(() => true),
+        importModule,
+        log: { log: vi.fn(), warn: vi.fn() },
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      status: "skip-existing",
+      migrated: false,
+    });
+    expect(importModule).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(migratePluginRegistryForInstall).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      env: { OPENCLAW_DISABLE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_MIGRATION: "0" },
+      packageRoot: "/pkg",
+    });
+  });
+
   it("prunes stale dist files from packaged installs", async () => {
     const packageRoot = await createTempDirAsync("openclaw-packaged-install-");
     const currentFile = path.join(packageRoot, "dist", "channel-BOa4MfoC.js");