diff --git a/ruby/ci-queue.gemspec b/ruby/ci-queue.gemspec
index 6b2c7387..3f4f69a9 100644
--- a/ruby/ci-queue.gemspec
+++ b/ruby/ci-queue.gemspec
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency 'simplecov', '~> 0.12'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'minitest-reporters', '~> 1.1'
 
+  spec.add_development_dependency 'rexml'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'snappy'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'msgpack'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'benchmark'
-  spec.add_development_dependency 'rexml'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'rubocop'
 end
diff --git a/ruby/lib/ci/queue/redis/worker.rb b/ruby/lib/ci/queue/redis/worker.rb
index 004b6fe3..cf6366c6 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/ci/queue/redis/worker.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/ci/queue/redis/worker.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ class << self
       self.requeue_offset = 42
       self.max_sleep_time = 2
 
+      # Minimal wrapper returned by resolve_entry when neither @index nor entry_resolver
+      # is available. Provides the interface callers expect (.id, .queue_entry) so that
+      # downstream code doesn't crash with NoMethodError on a raw String.
+      UnresolvedEntry = Struct.new(:id, :queue_entry)
+
       class Worker < Base
         attr_accessor :entry_resolver
         attr_reader :first_reserve_at
@@ -295,7 +300,7 @@ def resolve_entry(entry)
 
           return entry_resolver.call(entry) if entry_resolver
 
-          entry
+          UnresolvedEntry.new(test_id, entry)
         end
 
         def still_streaming?
diff --git a/ruby/lib/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy.rb b/ruby/lib/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy.rb
index f3ed7765..9a461ab0 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy.rb
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ def populate_queue
           configure_lazy_queue
           queue.stream_populate(lazy_test_enumerator, random: ordering_seed, batch_size: queue_config.lazy_load_stream_batch_size)
         else
+          configure_lazy_queue
           queue.populate(Minitest.loaded_tests, random: ordering_seed)
         end
       end
diff --git a/ruby/test/ci/queue/redis_test.rb b/ruby/test/ci/queue/redis_test.rb
index 6e89798f..e3302621 100644
--- a/ruby/test/ci/queue/redis_test.rb
+++ b/ruby/test/ci/queue/redis_test.rb
@@ -358,6 +358,16 @@ def test_resolve_entry_falls_back_to_resolver
     assert_equal "resolved:MissingTest#test_bar#{DELIMITER}/tmp/missing.rb", resolved
   end
 
+  def test_resolve_entry_returns_unresolved_entry_without_index_or_resolver
+    queue = worker(1, populate: false)
+
+    result = queue.send(:resolve_entry, "MissingTest#test_bar#{DELIMITER}/tmp/missing.rb")
+
+    assert_instance_of CI::Queue::Redis::UnresolvedEntry, result
+    assert_equal "MissingTest#test_bar", result.id
+    assert_equal "MissingTest#test_bar#{DELIMITER}/tmp/missing.rb", result.queue_entry
+  end
+
   def test_continuously_timing_out_tests
     3.times do
       @redis.flushdb
diff --git a/ruby/test/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy_test.rb b/ruby/test/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy_test.rb
index 07975a2c..6f7ec7dc 100644
--- a/ruby/test/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy_test.rb
+++ b/ruby/test/minitest/queue/queue_population_strategy_test.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,30 @@ def test_eager_mode_populates_loaded_tests
       Object.send(:remove_const, class_name) if class_name && Object.const_defined?(class_name)
     end
 
+    def test_eager_mode_sets_entry_resolver_as_fallback
+      queue = FakeQueue.new
+      config = CI::Queue::Configuration.new(lazy_load: false)
+      class_name = "StrategyEagerResolver#{Process.pid}#{rand(1000)}"
+
+      Dir.mktmpdir do |dir|
+        file = File.join(dir, "strategy_eager_resolver_test.rb")
+        File.write(file, "class #{class_name} < Minitest::Test\n  def test_resolver\n    assert true\n  end\nend\n")
+        strategy = QueuePopulationStrategy.new(
+          queue: queue,
+          queue_config: config,
+          argv: [file],
+          test_files_file: nil,
+          ordering_seed: Random.new(123),
+        )
+        strategy.load_and_populate!
+      end
+
+      assert_instance_of Minitest::Queue::LazyEntryResolver, queue.entry_resolver,
+        "eager mode should set entry_resolver as fallback for resolve_entry"
+    ensure
+      Object.send(:remove_const, class_name) if class_name && Object.const_defined?(class_name)
+    end
+
     def test_preresolved_mode_streams_entries
       queue = FakeQueue.new
       config = CI::Queue::Configuration.new(lazy_load: true)