The ⌳⌳ bond energy ⌬B ⌳⌳ in ⌳⌳ hypernuclei is obtained from a G-matrix calculation which includes the coupling between the ⌳⌳, ⌶N, and ⌺⌺ channels, as well as the effect of Pauli blocking to all orders. The Nijmegen NSC97e model is used as bare baryon-baryon interaction in the strangeness S = −2 sector. The ⌳⌳-⌶N coupling increases substantially the bond energy with respect to the uncoupled ⌳⌳ case. However, the additional incorporation of the ⌺⌺ channel, which couples simultaneously to ⌳⌳ and ⌶N states, has a surprisingly drastic effect and reduces the bond energy down to a value closer to that obtained in an uncoupled calculation. We find that a complete treatment of Pauli blocking reduces the repulsive effect on the bond energy to about half of what was claimed before.