diff --git a/plugins/promptfoo/src/generator/config-imports.test.ts b/plugins/promptfoo/src/generator/config-imports.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c419233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/promptfoo/src/generator/config-imports.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import * as fs from 'node:fs';
+import * as os from 'node:os';
+import * as path from 'node:path';
+
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+import { writeProviderFile } from './config.js';
+
+const tempDirs: string[] = [];
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const dir of tempDirs.splice(0)) {
+    fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+describe('writeProviderFile dependency detection', () => {
+  it('extracts package imports without regex backtracking', () => {
+    const outputDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'crabcode-config-'));
+    tempDirs.push(outputDir);
+
+    writeProviderFile({
+      outputDir,
+      filename: 'provider.js',
+      code: [
+        'import \t\taxios from "axios";',
+        'import { WebSocket } from "ws";',
+        'import localThing from "./local.js";',
+        'import fs from "node:fs";',
+      ].join('\n'),
+    });
+
+    const packageJson = JSON.parse(
+      fs.readFileSync(path.join(outputDir, 'package.json'), 'utf-8')
+    ) as { dependencies: Record<string, string> };
+
+    expect(packageJson.dependencies).toEqual({
+      axios: '^1.6.0',
+      ws: '^8.18.0',
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/plugins/promptfoo/src/generator/config.ts b/plugins/promptfoo/src/generator/config.ts
index bc749e8..d4dfed8 100644
--- a/plugins/promptfoo/src/generator/config.ts
+++ b/plugins/promptfoo/src/generator/config.ts
@@ -167,12 +167,12 @@ export function writeProviderFile(options: {
 function detectDependencies(code: string): Record<string, string> {
   const deps: Record<string, string> = {};
 
-  // Match: import X from 'package' or import { X } from 'package'
-  const importRegex = /import\s+(?:[\w{}\s,*]+)\s+from\s+['"]([^'"./][^'"]*)['"]/g;
-  let match;
+  for (const line of code.split(/\r?\n/)) {
+    const pkg = extractImportSpecifier(line);
+    if (!pkg) {
+      continue;
+    }
 
-  while ((match = importRegex.exec(code)) !== null) {
-    const pkg = match[1];
     // Skip node built-ins
     if (!pkg.startsWith('node:')) {
       // Common package versions
@@ -188,6 +188,33 @@ function detectDependencies(code: string): Record<string, string> {
   return deps;
 }
 
+function extractImportSpecifier(line: string): string | null {
+  const trimmed = line.trim();
+  if (!trimmed.startsWith('import ')) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const fromIndex = trimmed.indexOf(' from ');
+  const specifierStart = fromIndex >= 0 ? fromIndex + 6 : 'import '.length;
+  const quote = trimmed[specifierStart];
+
+  if (quote !== '"' && quote !== "'") {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const specifierEnd = trimmed.indexOf(quote, specifierStart + 1);
+  if (specifierEnd === -1) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const specifier = trimmed.slice(specifierStart + 1, specifierEnd);
+  if (specifier.startsWith('.') || specifier.startsWith('/')) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return specifier;
+}
+
 /**
  * Generate a simple HTTP provider config
  */