diff --git a/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/main/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactory.kt b/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/main/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactory.kt
index 47eac193416..bd538893a6f 100644
--- a/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/main/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactory.kt
+++ b/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/main/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactory.kt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import coil3.gif.AnimatedImageDecoder
 import coil3.gif.GifDecoder
 import coil3.intercept.Interceptor
 import coil3.memory.MemoryCache
+import coil3.network.okhttp.OkHttpNetworkFetcherFactory
 import coil3.request.allowHardware
 import coil3.request.crossfade
 import coil3.video.VideoFrameDecoder
@@ -82,6 +83,7 @@ public class StreamImageLoaderFactory(
             }
             .components {
                 interceptors.forEach { add(it) }
+                add(OkHttpNetworkFetcherFactory())
                 if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.P) {
                     add(AnimatedImageDecoder.Factory(enforceMinimumFrameDelay = true))
                 } else {
diff --git a/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/test/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactoryTest.kt b/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/test/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactoryTest.kt
index 55966b3b435..5fe1cde18b5 100644
--- a/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/test/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactoryTest.kt
+++ b/stream-chat-android-ui-common/src/test/kotlin/io/getstream/chat/android/ui/common/images/StreamImageLoaderFactoryTest.kt
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ import coil3.disk.DiskCache
 import coil3.gif.AnimatedImageDecoder
 import coil3.gif.GifDecoder
 import coil3.memory.MemoryCache
+import coil3.network.NetworkFetcher
+import coil3.serviceLoaderEnabled
 import coil3.video.VideoFrameDecoder
 import okio.Path.Companion.toOkioPath
 import org.amshove.kluent.internal.assertEquals
@@ -103,6 +105,17 @@ internal class StreamImageLoaderFactoryTest {
         assertTrue(hasVideoDecoder)
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `newImageLoader registers network fetcher explicitly without relying on ServiceLoader`() {
+        val sut = StreamImageLoaderFactory(builder = { serviceLoaderEnabled(false) })
+
+        val imageLoader = sut.newImageLoader(context)
+
+        val hasNetworkFetcher = imageLoader.components.fetcherFactories
+            .any { (factory, _) -> factory is NetworkFetcher.Factory }
+        assertTrue(hasNetworkFetcher)
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `newImageLoader applies custom builder lambda`() {
         var customApplied = false