diff --git a/src/google/adk/tools/environment_simulation/tool_connection_analyzer.py b/src/google/adk/tools/environment_simulation/tool_connection_analyzer.py
index 8f8d5532cd..d079e269d7 100644
--- a/src/google/adk/tools/environment_simulation/tool_connection_analyzer.py
+++ b/src/google/adk/tools/environment_simulation/tool_connection_analyzer.py
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ async def analyze(self, tools: List[BaseTool]) -> ToolConnectionMap:
       clean_json_text = re.sub(r"^```[a-zA-Z]*\n", "", response_text)
       clean_json_text = re.sub(r"\n```$", "", clean_json_text)
       response_json = json.loads(clean_json_text.strip())
-    except json.JSONDecodeError:
+    except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
       logging.warning(
           "Failed to parse tool connection analysis from LLM. Proceeding"
           " without connection map. Error: %s\nLLM Output:\n%s",
diff --git a/tests/unittests/tools/environment_simulation/test_tool_connection_analyzer.py b/tests/unittests/tools/environment_simulation/test_tool_connection_analyzer.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e94d9571c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unittests/tools/environment_simulation/test_tool_connection_analyzer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+# Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import logging
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from google.adk.models.llm_response import LlmResponse
+from google.adk.tools.environment_simulation.tool_connection_analyzer import ToolConnectionAnalyzer
+from google.adk.tools.environment_simulation.tool_connection_map import ToolConnectionMap
+from google.genai import types as genai_types
+import pytest
+
+
+def _make_analyzer(response_text: str) -> ToolConnectionAnalyzer:
+  """Builds a ToolConnectionAnalyzer whose LLM yields ``response_text``."""
+
+  async def fake_generate_content_async(request):
+    yield LlmResponse(
+        content=genai_types.Content(
+            role="model",
+            parts=[genai_types.Part(text=response_text)],
+        )
+    )
+
+  mock_llm = MagicMock()
+  mock_llm.generate_content_async = fake_generate_content_async
+
+  with patch(
+      "google.adk.tools.environment_simulation.tool_connection_analyzer.LLMRegistry"
+  ) as mock_registry:
+    mock_registry.return_value.resolve.return_value = MagicMock(
+        return_value=mock_llm
+    )
+    return ToolConnectionAnalyzer(
+        llm_name="fake-model",
+        llm_config=genai_types.GenerateContentConfig(),
+    )
+
+
+def _make_tool(name: str) -> MagicMock:
+  """Builds a tool whose declaration produces a non-empty schema."""
+  tool = MagicMock()
+  tool._get_declaration.return_value = genai_types.FunctionDeclaration(
+      name=name
+  )
+  return tool
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+class TestToolConnectionAnalyzerAnalyze:
+  """Test cases for the analyze method of ToolConnectionAnalyzer."""
+
+  async def test_malformed_json_returns_empty_map_without_crashing(
+      self, caplog
+  ):
+    """Regression test: a non-JSON LLM response must not raise NameError.
+
+    The JSONDecodeError handler logs the captured exception, so the ``except``
+    clause must bind it (``as e``). Without the binding the handler itself
+    raised ``NameError: name 'e' is not defined``, masking the real parse
+    failure and crashing ``analyze()``.
+    """
+    analyzer = _make_analyzer("this is not json at all")
+    tool = _make_tool("create_ticket")
+
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING):
+      result = await analyzer.analyze([tool])
+
+    assert isinstance(result, ToolConnectionMap)
+    assert result.stateful_parameters == []
+    assert "Failed to parse tool connection analysis" in caplog.text
+
+  async def test_valid_json_is_parsed_into_connection_map(self):
+    """A well-formed JSON response is parsed into a ToolConnectionMap."""
+    response_text = (
+        '{"stateful_parameters": [{"parameter_name": "ticket_id",'
+        ' "creating_tools": ["create_ticket"], "consuming_tools":'
+        ' ["get_ticket"]}]}'
+    )
+    analyzer = _make_analyzer(response_text)
+    tool = _make_tool("create_ticket")
+
+    result = await analyzer.analyze([tool])
+
+    assert isinstance(result, ToolConnectionMap)
+    assert len(result.stateful_parameters) == 1
+    parameter = result.stateful_parameters[0]
+    assert parameter.parameter_name == "ticket_id"
+    assert parameter.creating_tools == ["create_ticket"]
+    assert parameter.consuming_tools == ["get_ticket"]
+
+  async def test_fenced_json_is_stripped_before_parsing(self):
+    """A response wrapped in a Markdown code fence is parsed correctly."""
+    response_text = (
+        "```json\n"
+        '{"stateful_parameters": [{"parameter_name": "order_id",'
+        ' "creating_tools": ["create_order"], "consuming_tools":'
+        ' ["get_order"]}]}\n'
+        "```"
+    )
+    analyzer = _make_analyzer(response_text)
+    tool = _make_tool("create_order")
+
+    result = await analyzer.analyze([tool])
+
+    assert isinstance(result, ToolConnectionMap)
+    assert len(result.stateful_parameters) == 1
+    assert result.stateful_parameters[0].parameter_name == "order_id"