diff --git a/frontend/src/turnstile.spec.ts b/frontend/src/turnstile.spec.ts
index 259e4dc..9a5c8b5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/turnstile.spec.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/turnstile.spec.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,19 @@ test('cloudflare gate returns empty when the API is missing', async () => {
   expect(await gate.getToken(container)).toBe('')
 })
 
+test('cloudflare gate ignores ready() throwing from async/defer api.js', async () => {
+  const { api, options } = mockApi({
+    ready: () => {
+      throw new Error('[Cloudflare Turnstile] Remove async/defer from the Turnstile api.js script tag before using turnstile.ready().')
+    },
+  })
+  api.execute = () => {
+    options.at(-1)?.callback?.('tok')
+  }
+  const gate = new CloudflareTurnstileGate('sitekey', { getApi: () => api })
+  expect(await gate.getToken(container)).toBe('tok')
+})
+
 test('cloudflare gate does not hang when render throws', async () => {
   const gate = new CloudflareTurnstileGate('sitekey', {
     getApi: () => ({
diff --git a/frontend/src/turnstile.ts b/frontend/src/turnstile.ts
index 8c968d3..683c675 100644
--- a/frontend/src/turnstile.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/turnstile.ts
@@ -48,16 +48,6 @@ function isUsableApi(api: TurnstileApi | null | undefined): api is TurnstileApi
   return typeof api?.render === 'function' && typeof api?.execute === 'function'
 }
 
-function whenReady(turnstile: TurnstileApi): Promise<void> {
-  return new Promise((resolve) => {
-    if (typeof turnstile.ready === 'function') {
-      turnstile.ready(() => resolve())
-      return
-    }
-    resolve()
-  })
-}
-
 export class CloudflareTurnstileGate implements TurnstileGate {
   readonly mode = 'cloudflare' as const
   private widgetId: string | null = null
@@ -166,10 +156,9 @@ export class CloudflareTurnstileGate implements TurnstileGate {
             done('')
             return
           }
-          await whenReady(api)
-          if (settled) {
-            return
-          }
+          // Do not call turnstile.ready(): with async/defer api.js it throws
+          // "Remove async/defer ... before using turnstile.ready()", which
+          // used to settle this promise with an empty token on production.
           const alreadyRendered = Boolean(this.widgetId)
           if (!this.widgetId) {
             this.widgetId = api.render(container, {