diff --git a/examples/web-search-crawl.py b/examples/web-search-crawl.py
index ac7ec512..6222d9dc 100644
--- a/examples/web-search-crawl.py
+++ b/examples/web-search-crawl.py
@@ -5,12 +5,11 @@
 #     "ollama",
 # ]
 # ///
-import os
 from typing import Union
 
 from rich import print
 
-from ollama import Client, WebCrawlResponse, WebSearchResponse
+from ollama import WebCrawlResponse, WebSearchResponse, chat, web_crawl, web_search
 
 
 def format_tool_results(results: Union[WebSearchResponse, WebCrawlResponse]):
@@ -49,15 +48,17 @@ def format_tool_results(results: Union[WebSearchResponse, WebCrawlResponse]):
     return '\n'.join(output).rstrip()
 
 
-client = Client(headers={'Authorization': (os.getenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY'))})
-available_tools = {'web_search': client.web_search, 'web_crawl': client.web_crawl}
+# Set OLLAMA_API_KEY in the environment variable or use the headers parameter to set the authorization header
+# client = Client(headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer <OLLAMA_API_KEY>'})
+
+available_tools = {'web_search': web_search, 'web_crawl': web_crawl}
 
 query = "ollama's new engine"
 print('Query: ', query)
 
 messages = [{'role': 'user', 'content': query}]
 while True:
-  response = client.chat(model='qwen3', messages=messages, tools=[client.web_search, client.web_crawl], think=True)
+  response = chat(model='qwen3', messages=messages, tools=[web_search, web_crawl], think=True)
   if response.message.thinking:
     print('Thinking: ')
     print(response.message.thinking + '\n\n')
diff --git a/ollama/_client.py b/ollama/_client.py
index 9abd5cc6..d6a26c69 100644
--- a/ollama/_client.py
+++ b/ollama/_client.py
@@ -94,20 +94,25 @@ def __init__(
     `kwargs` are passed to the httpx client.
     """
 
+    headers = {
+      k.lower(): v
+      for k, v in {
+        **(headers or {}),
+        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+        'Accept': 'application/json',
+        'User-Agent': f'ollama-python/{__version__} ({platform.machine()} {platform.system().lower()}) Python/{platform.python_version()}',
+      }.items()
+      if v is not None
+    }
+    api_key = os.getenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', None)
+    if not headers.get('authorization') and api_key:
+      headers['authorization'] = f'Bearer {api_key}'
+
     self._client = client(
       base_url=_parse_host(host or os.getenv('OLLAMA_HOST')),
       follow_redirects=follow_redirects,
       timeout=timeout,
-      # Lowercase all headers to ensure override
-      headers={
-        k.lower(): v
-        for k, v in {
-          **(headers or {}),
-          'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-          'Accept': 'application/json',
-          'User-Agent': f'ollama-python/{__version__} ({platform.machine()} {platform.system().lower()}) Python/{platform.python_version()}',
-        }.items()
-      },
+      headers=headers,
       **kwargs,
     )
 
@@ -638,7 +643,12 @@ def web_search(self, queries: Sequence[str], max_results: int = 3) -> WebSearchR
 
     Returns:
       WebSearchResponse with the search results
+    Raises:
+      ValueError: If OLLAMA_API_KEY environment variable is not set
     """
+    if not self._client.headers.get('authorization', '').startswith('Bearer '):
+      raise ValueError('Authorization header with Bearer token is required for web search')
+
     return self._request(
       WebSearchResponse,
       'POST',
@@ -658,7 +668,12 @@ def web_crawl(self, urls: Sequence[str]) -> WebCrawlResponse:
 
     Returns:
       WebCrawlResponse with the crawl results
+    Raises:
+      ValueError: If OLLAMA_API_KEY environment variable is not set
     """
+    if not self._client.headers.get('authorization', '').startswith('Bearer '):
+      raise ValueError('Authorization header with Bearer token is required for web fetch')
+
     return self._request(
       WebCrawlResponse,
       'POST',
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 6917edc2..17d5750b 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -1195,3 +1195,83 @@ async def test_arbitrary_roles_accepted_in_message_request_async(monkeypatch: py
   client = AsyncClient()
 
   await client.chat(model='llama3.1', messages=[{'role': 'somerandomrole', 'content': "I'm ok with you adding any role message now!"}, {'role': 'user', 'content': 'Hello world!'}])
+
+
+def test_client_web_search_requires_bearer_auth_header(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.delenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', raising=False)
+
+  client = Client()
+
+  with pytest.raises(ValueError, match='Authorization header with Bearer token is required for web search'):
+    client.web_search(['test query'])
+
+
+def test_client_web_crawl_requires_bearer_auth_header(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.delenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', raising=False)
+
+  client = Client()
+
+  with pytest.raises(ValueError, match='Authorization header with Bearer token is required for web fetch'):
+    client.web_crawl(['https://example.com'])
+
+
+def _mock_request_web_search(self, cls, method, url, json=None, **kwargs):
+  assert method == 'POST'
+  assert url == 'https://ollama.com/api/web_search'
+  assert json is not None and 'queries' in json and 'max_results' in json
+  return httpxResponse(status_code=200, content='{"results": {}, "success": true}')
+
+
+def _mock_request_web_crawl(self, cls, method, url, json=None, **kwargs):
+  assert method == 'POST'
+  assert url == 'https://ollama.com/api/web_crawl'
+  assert json is not None and 'urls' in json
+  return httpxResponse(status_code=200, content='{"results": {}, "success": true}')
+
+
+def test_client_web_search_with_env_api_key(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.setenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', 'test-key')
+  monkeypatch.setattr(Client, '_request', _mock_request_web_search)
+
+  client = Client()
+  client.web_search(['what is ollama?'], max_results=2)
+
+
+def test_client_web_crawl_with_env_api_key(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.setenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', 'test-key')
+  monkeypatch.setattr(Client, '_request', _mock_request_web_crawl)
+
+  client = Client()
+  client.web_crawl(['https://example.com'])
+
+
+def test_client_web_search_with_explicit_bearer_header(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.delenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', raising=False)
+  monkeypatch.setattr(Client, '_request', _mock_request_web_search)
+
+  client = Client(headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer custom-token'})
+  client.web_search(['what is ollama?'], max_results=1)
+
+
+def test_client_web_crawl_with_explicit_bearer_header(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.delenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', raising=False)
+  monkeypatch.setattr(Client, '_request', _mock_request_web_crawl)
+
+  client = Client(headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer custom-token'})
+  client.web_crawl(['https://example.com'])
+
+
+def test_client_bearer_header_from_env(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.setenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', 'env-token')
+
+  client = Client()
+  assert client._client.headers['authorization'] == 'Bearer env-token'
+
+
+def test_client_explicit_bearer_header_overrides_env(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+  monkeypatch.setenv('OLLAMA_API_KEY', 'env-token')
+  monkeypatch.setattr(Client, '_request', _mock_request_web_search)
+
+  client = Client(headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer explicit-token'})
+  assert client._client.headers['authorization'] == 'Bearer explicit-token'
+  client.web_search(['override check'])