diff --git a/src/cartsnitch_api/cache.py b/src/cartsnitch_api/cache.py
index 6766a8c..a5aa91b 100644
--- a/src/cartsnitch_api/cache.py
+++ b/src/cartsnitch_api/cache.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class CacheClient:
             return None
         if isinstance(value, bytes):
             return value.decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
-        return value
+        return str(value)
 
     async def set(self, key: str, value: str, ttl_seconds: int = 300) -> None:
         if not self._client:
diff --git a/src/cartsnitch_api/main.py b/src/cartsnitch_api/main.py
index 5a72b6b..66c1854 100644
--- a/src/cartsnitch_api/main.py
+++ b/src/cartsnitch_api/main.py
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ from cartsnitch_api.routes.user import router as user_router
 
 @asynccontextmanager
 async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
+    # Lazy import: keep `dispose_engine` out of the top-level imports so a
+    # stale or partially-built database.py never breaks module load on
+    # container start. The function is required for graceful pool cleanup
+    # on shutdown; if the import fails, the cache_client.close() that
+    # follows the yield would mask it. See CAR-1135 for the original
+    # ImportError that motivated this pattern.
     from cartsnitch_api.database import dispose_engine
 
     await cache_client.initialize()
diff --git a/src/cartsnitch_api/middleware/rate_limit.py b/src/cartsnitch_api/middleware/rate_limit.py
index c6d5f21..ff1b218 100644
--- a/src/cartsnitch_api/middleware/rate_limit.py
+++ b/src/cartsnitch_api/middleware/rate_limit.py
@@ -121,10 +121,6 @@ if settings.rate_limit_redis_enabled:
         logger.warning("Failed to connect to Redis for rate limiting, using in-memory: %s", e)
         _use_redis = False
 
-_public_limiter: RateLimitBackend
-_auth_limiter: RateLimitBackend
-_auth_strict_limiter: RateLimitBackend
-
 if _use_redis and _redis_client:
     _public_limiter = RedisSlidingWindow(
         _redis_client, settings.rate_limit_requests, settings.rate_limit_window_seconds
@@ -151,8 +147,8 @@ def _get_client_ip(request: Request) -> str:
     """Extract client IP, respecting X-Forwarded-For behind a reverse proxy."""
     forwarded = request.headers.get("x-forwarded-for")
     if forwarded:
-        return forwarded.split(",")[0].strip()
-    return request.client.host if request.client else "unknown"
+        return str(forwarded.split(",")[0].strip())
+    return str(request.client.host) if request.client else "unknown"
 
 
 def _get_rate_limit_key(request: Request) -> tuple[str, RateLimitBackend]:
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 1958022..133f726 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ def _register_event_listeners():
             event.listen(cls, "before_insert", _set_timestamp_defaults)
 
 
-
 TEST_JWT_SECRET = secrets.token_urlsafe(32)
 TEST_SERVICE_KEY = secrets.token_urlsafe(32)
 TEST_FERNET_KEY = "7reF42nmTwbdN21PBoubGp7h_FU8qSimstmlaMLoRK8="
diff --git a/tests/test_openapi.py b/tests/test_openapi.py
index 2311567..1abea55 100644
--- a/tests/test_openapi.py
+++ b/tests/test_openapi.py
@@ -3,8 +3,22 @@
 import pytest
 from httpx import ASGITransport, AsyncClient
 
+from cartsnitch_api.database import dispose_engine
 from cartsnitch_api.main import app
 
+
+def test_dispose_engine_importable_from_database():
+    """Regression for CAR-1135: api main.py used to import dispose_engine
+    at module level. A stale database.py (no dispose_engine) crashed the
+    container at import time with ImportError on line 9. The fix moved
+    the import inside the lifespan function, but `dispose_engine` must
+    still be importable from `cartsnitch_api.database` for the lifespan
+    teardown to actually close pooled connections.
+    """
+    assert callable(dispose_engine)
+    assert dispose_engine.__name__ == "dispose_engine"
+
+
 EXPECTED_ROUTES = [
     # Auth (3 — register/login/refresh are handled by Better-Auth service)
     ("get", "/auth/me"),