diff --git a/lib/crewai/pyproject.toml b/lib/crewai/pyproject.toml
index e883035c19..36690af587 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/pyproject.toml
+++ b/lib/crewai/pyproject.toml
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ dependencies = [
     "aiosqlite~=0.21.0",
     "pyyaml~=6.0",
     "aiofiles~=24.1.0",
-    "lancedb>=0.29.2,<0.30.1",
 ]
 
 [project.urls]
@@ -66,6 +65,9 @@ pandas = [
 openpyxl = [
     "openpyxl~=3.1.5",
 ]
+memory = [
+    "lancedb>=0.29.2,<0.30.1",
+]
 mem0 = ["mem0ai~=0.1.94"]
 docling = [
     "docling~=2.75.0",
diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/memory/storage/lancedb_storage.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/memory/storage/lancedb_storage.py
index a7a2d3956d..9f7cf6afd8 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/memory/storage/lancedb_storage.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/memory/storage/lancedb_storage.py
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@
 import time
 from typing import Any
 
-import lancedb  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
+try:
+    import lancedb  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
+except ImportError:
+    lancedb = None
 
 from crewai.memory.types import MemoryRecord, ScopeInfo
 from crewai.utilities.lock_store import lock as store_lock
@@ -63,6 +66,12 @@ def __init__(
                   fragment file; compaction merges them, keeping query
                   performance consistent.  Set to 0 to disable.
         """
+        if lancedb is None:
+            raise ImportError(
+                "lancedb is required for LanceDB memory storage but is not installed.\n"
+                "Install it with:  pip install 'crewai[memory]'\n"
+                "Or directly:      pip install 'lancedb>=0.29.2,<0.30.1'"
+            )
         if path is None:
             storage_dir = os.environ.get("CREWAI_STORAGE_DIR")
             if storage_dir:
diff --git a/lib/crewai/tests/memory/test_lancedb_optional.py b/lib/crewai/tests/memory/test_lancedb_optional.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..92aba52b48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/crewai/tests/memory/test_lancedb_optional.py
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+"""Tests that lancedb is an optional dependency.
+
+These tests verify that:
+1. The lancedb_storage module handles a missing lancedb gracefully.
+2. Memory falls back with a clear error when lancedb is not installed.
+3. Importing crewai itself does not require lancedb.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import sys
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+import pytest
+
+
+def test_lancedb_storage_raises_import_error_when_lancedb_missing(tmp_path):
+    """LanceDBStorage.__init__ raises ImportError with install instructions when lancedb is absent."""
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"lancedb": None}):
+        # Force reload so the module picks up the patched sys.modules
+        import importlib
+
+        import crewai.memory.storage.lancedb_storage as mod
+
+        importlib.reload(mod)
+
+        with pytest.raises(ImportError, match="pip install 'crewai\\[memory\\]'"):
+            mod.LanceDBStorage(path=str(tmp_path / "mem"))
+
+        # Restore the module to its original state
+        importlib.reload(mod)
+
+
+def test_memory_default_storage_raises_when_lancedb_missing(tmp_path):
+    """Memory(storage='lancedb') raises ImportError when lancedb is not installed."""
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"lancedb": None}):
+        import importlib
+
+        import crewai.memory.storage.lancedb_storage as mod
+
+        importlib.reload(mod)
+
+        try:
+            from crewai.memory.unified_memory import Memory
+
+            with pytest.raises(ImportError, match="pip install 'crewai\\[memory\\]'"):
+                Memory(
+                    storage="lancedb",
+                    llm=MagicMock(),
+                    embedder=MagicMock(),
+                )
+        finally:
+            importlib.reload(mod)
+
+
+def test_memory_with_path_string_raises_when_lancedb_missing(tmp_path):
+    """Memory(storage='/some/path') also uses LanceDBStorage and raises when lancedb is missing."""
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"lancedb": None}):
+        import importlib
+
+        import crewai.memory.storage.lancedb_storage as mod
+
+        importlib.reload(mod)
+
+        try:
+            from crewai.memory.unified_memory import Memory
+
+            with pytest.raises(ImportError, match="pip install 'crewai\\[memory\\]'"):
+                Memory(
+                    storage=str(tmp_path / "custom_path"),
+                    llm=MagicMock(),
+                    embedder=MagicMock(),
+                )
+        finally:
+            importlib.reload(mod)
+
+
+def test_crewai_import_does_not_require_lancedb():
+    """Importing crewai should work even if lancedb is not installed.
+
+    The Memory class is lazily imported in crewai/__init__.py, so lancedb
+    should never be pulled in at import time.
+    """
+    # This test verifies the lazy import mechanism by checking that the
+    # crewai module is importable and that Memory is listed in __all__
+    # but not yet resolved in the module globals until accessed.
+    import crewai
+
+    assert "Memory" in crewai.__all__
+    # Memory should be accessible (lazy import triggers on access)
+    assert hasattr(crewai, "Memory")
+
+
+def test_memory_with_custom_storage_backend_does_not_need_lancedb(tmp_path):
+    """When a custom StorageBackend is passed, lancedb is never needed."""
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"lancedb": None}):
+        import importlib
+
+        import crewai.memory.storage.lancedb_storage as mod
+
+        importlib.reload(mod)
+
+        try:
+            from crewai.memory.unified_memory import Memory
+
+            mock_storage = MagicMock()
+            # Should not raise, since we're providing a custom storage backend
+            mem = Memory(
+                storage=mock_storage,
+                llm=MagicMock(),
+                embedder=MagicMock(),
+            )
+            assert mem._storage is mock_storage
+        finally:
+            importlib.reload(mod)
+
+
+def test_lancedb_in_optional_dependencies():
+    """Verify lancedb is listed under optional [memory] dependencies, not core."""
+    import tomli
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    pyproject_path = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "pyproject.toml"
+    with open(pyproject_path, "rb") as f:
+        data = tomli.load(f)
+
+    core_deps = data["project"]["dependencies"]
+    optional_deps = data["project"]["optional-dependencies"]
+
+    # lancedb should NOT be in core dependencies
+    assert not any("lancedb" in dep for dep in core_deps), (
+        "lancedb should not be a core dependency"
+    )
+
+    # lancedb SHOULD be in optional [memory] dependencies
+    assert "memory" in optional_deps, "Missing [memory] optional dependency group"
+    memory_deps = optional_deps["memory"]
+    assert any("lancedb" in dep for dep in memory_deps), (
+        "lancedb should be in the [memory] optional dependency group"
+    )
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 2f09221736..e415d568a4 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ resolution-markers = [
 ]
 
 [options]
-exclude-newer = "2026-04-04T15:11:41.651093Z"
+exclude-newer = "2026-04-04T21:52:55.380648312Z"
 exclude-newer-span = "P3D"
 
 [manifest]
@@ -1209,7 +1209,6 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "json-repair" },
     { name = "json5" },
     { name = "jsonref" },
-    { name = "lancedb" },
     { name = "mcp" },
     { name = "openai" },
     { name = "openpyxl" },
@@ -1269,6 +1268,9 @@ litellm = [
 mem0 = [
     { name = "mem0ai" },
 ]
+memory = [
+    { name = "lancedb" },
+]
 openpyxl = [
     { name = "openpyxl" },
 ]
@@ -1317,7 +1319,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "json-repair", specifier = "~=0.25.2" },
     { name = "json5", specifier = "~=0.10.0" },
     { name = "jsonref", specifier = "~=1.1.0" },
-    { name = "lancedb", specifier = ">=0.29.2,<0.30.1" },
+    { name = "lancedb", marker = "extra == 'memory'", specifier = ">=0.29.2,<0.30.1" },
     { name = "litellm", marker = "extra == 'litellm'", specifier = "~=1.83.0" },
     { name = "mcp", specifier = "~=1.26.0" },
     { name = "mem0ai", marker = "extra == 'mem0'", specifier = "~=0.1.94" },
@@ -1346,7 +1348,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "uv", specifier = "~=0.9.13" },
     { name = "voyageai", marker = "extra == 'voyageai'", specifier = "~=0.3.5" },
 ]
-provides-extras = ["a2a", "anthropic", "aws", "azure-ai-inference", "bedrock", "docling", "embeddings", "file-processing", "google-genai", "litellm", "mem0", "openpyxl", "pandas", "qdrant", "qdrant-edge", "tools", "voyageai", "watson"]
+provides-extras = ["a2a", "anthropic", "aws", "azure-ai-inference", "bedrock", "docling", "embeddings", "file-processing", "google-genai", "litellm", "mem0", "memory", "openpyxl", "pandas", "qdrant", "qdrant-edge", "tools", "voyageai", "watson"]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "crewai-devtools"