diff --git a/pageindex/page_index_md.py b/pageindex/page_index_md.py
index 86ef2a145..97311cf18 100644
--- a/pageindex/page_index_md.py
+++ b/pageindex/page_index_md.py
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 import json
 import re
 import os
-try:
+if __package__:
     from .utils import *
-except:
+else:
+    # Run as a script (no parent package): resolve utils from the same directory.
     from utils import *
 
 async def get_node_summary(node, summary_token_threshold=200, model=None):
diff --git a/tests/test_page_index_md.py b/tests/test_page_index_md.py
index 0f4581090..dbac3ecdd 100644
--- a/tests/test_page_index_md.py
+++ b/tests/test_page_index_md.py
@@ -1,8 +1,30 @@
+import subprocess
+import sys
 import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
 
 from pageindex.page_index_md import extract_nodes_from_markdown
 
 
+class UtilsImportFallbackTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_script_mode_import_resolves_sibling_utils(self):
+        # Without a parent package the module must fall back to `from utils import *`.
+        module_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "pageindex"
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            [sys.executable, "-c", "import page_index_md; print(page_index_md.count_tokens.__name__)"],
+            cwd=module_dir,
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            timeout=120,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr)
+        self.assertEqual(result.stdout.strip(), "count_tokens")
+
+    def test_package_import_does_not_swallow_errors(self):
+        source = (Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "pageindex" / "page_index_md.py").read_text()
+        self.assertNotIn("except:", source)
+
+
 class ExtractNodesFromMarkdownTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_skips_bold_heading_with_only_whitespace(self):
         nodes, _ = extract_nodes_from_markdown("**   **\n**Valid heading**")