diff --git a/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py b/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
index dade6c933e6..785ad8dc290 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ async def add_litellm_data_to_request(  # noqa: PLR0915
 
     _metadata_variable_name = _get_metadata_variable_name(request)
 
-    if _metadata_variable_name not in data:
+    if data.get(_metadata_variable_name, None) is None:
         data[_metadata_variable_name] = {}
 
     # We want to log the "metadata" from the client side request. Avoid circular reference by not directly assigning metadata to itself.