diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.integration.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.integration.test.tsx
index fc054e51e5b..ce5d038ad5c 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.integration.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.integration.test.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { useTeamMetadataSchema } from "@/app/(dashboard)/hooks/teams/useTeamMetadataSchema";
 import * as networking from "@/components/networking";
-import { fireEvent, screen, waitFor } from "@testing-library/react";
+import { fireEvent, screen, waitFor, within } from "@testing-library/react";
 import userEvent from "@testing-library/user-event";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { renderWithProviders } from "../../../tests/test-utils";
@@ -817,6 +817,80 @@ describe("TeamInfoView - member budget reset prompt", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("TeamInfoView - settings save preserves models (#43845)", () => {
+  const props = {
+    teamId: "123",
+    onUpdate: vi.fn(),
+    onClose: vi.fn(),
+    accessToken: "test-token",
+    is_team_admin: true,
+    is_proxy_admin: true,
+    userModels: ["gpt-4.1", "claude-sonnet-4", "gpt-4o-mini"],
+    editTeam: false,
+    premiumUser: false,
+  };
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    seedDefaultMocks();
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("omits models from /team/update when only max_budget is edited", async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup({ delay: null });
+    const teamModels = ["gpt-4.1", "claude-sonnet-4"];
+    vi.mocked(networking.teamInfoCall).mockResolvedValue(
+      createMockTeamData({ models: teamModels, max_budget: 10 }) as any,
+    );
+    vi.mocked(networking.teamUpdateCall).mockResolvedValue({
+      data: { team_id: "123", team_alias: "Test Team", models: teamModels },
+      team_id: "123",
+    });
+
+    renderWithProviders(<TeamInfoView {...props} />);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(screen.queryAllByText("Test Team").length).toBeGreaterThan(0));
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Settings" }));
+    await user.click(await screen.findByRole("button", { name: /edit settings/i }));
+
+    const budgetInput = await screen.findByLabelText("Max Budget (USD)");
+    fireEvent.change(budgetInput, { target: { value: "25" } });
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /save changes/i }));
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(networking.teamUpdateCall).toHaveBeenCalled());
+    const payload = vi.mocked(networking.teamUpdateCall).mock.calls[0][1];
+    expect(payload).not.toHaveProperty("models");
+    expect(Number(payload.max_budget)).toBe(25);
+  });
+
+  it("includes models in /team/update when Models is edited", async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup({ delay: null });
+    const teamModels = ["gpt-4.1", "claude-sonnet-4"];
+    vi.mocked(networking.teamInfoCall).mockResolvedValue(
+      createMockTeamData({ models: teamModels, max_budget: 10 }) as any,
+    );
+    vi.mocked(networking.teamUpdateCall).mockResolvedValue({
+      data: { team_id: "123", team_alias: "Test Team", models: ["gpt-4.1"] },
+      team_id: "123",
+    });
+
+    renderWithProviders(<TeamInfoView {...props} />);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(screen.queryAllByText("Test Team").length).toBeGreaterThan(0));
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Settings" }));
+    await user.click(await screen.findByRole("button", { name: /edit settings/i }));
+
+    await user.click(within(screen.getByLabelText("claude-sonnet-4")).getByRole("button"));
+    expect(screen.queryByLabelText("claude-sonnet-4")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /save changes/i }));
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(networking.teamUpdateCall).toHaveBeenCalled());
+    const payload = vi.mocked(networking.teamUpdateCall).mock.calls[0][1];
+    expect(payload.models).toEqual(["gpt-4.1"]);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("TeamInfoView - model rate limit picker", () => {
   const props = {
     teamId: "123",
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.test.tsx
index e4bf67ab72f..46081ae96f5 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.test.tsx
@@ -2421,7 +2421,6 @@ describe("TeamInfoView - the exact bytes the update call sends", () => {
   const alwaysSent = {
     team_id: "123",
     team_alias: "Test Team",
-    models: ["gpt-4"],
     tpm_limit: 1000,
     rpm_limit: 1000,
     tpd_limit: null,
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.tsx
index 0d63f5d0833..49ea735dcfc 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/TeamInfo.tsx
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ import {
 import { modelMaxBudgetUpdate, StoredModelMaxBudget } from "../key_team_helpers/modelMaxBudgetPayload";
 import {
   computeTeamModelBadges,
-  normalizeTeamModelSelection,
+  modelsFieldForTeamUpdate,
   TeamAccessGroupModelGrant,
   teamPerModelLimitOptions,
   TeamModelBadge,
@@ -719,7 +719,8 @@ const TeamInfoView: React.FC<TeamInfoProps> = ({
     return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(values).filter(([key]) => !unmounted.has(key)));
   };
 
-  const onTeamUpdateSubmit = (values: TeamUpdateFormValues) => handleTeamUpdate(mountedUpdateValues(values));
+  const onTeamUpdateSubmit = (values: TeamUpdateFormValues) =>
+    handleTeamUpdate(mountedUpdateValues(values), form.formState.dirtyFields);
 
   const fetchTeamInfo = async () => {
     try {
@@ -986,7 +987,7 @@ const TeamInfoView: React.FC<TeamInfoProps> = ({
     }
   };
 
-  const handleTeamUpdate = async (values: any) => {
+  const handleTeamUpdate = async (values: any, dirtyFields: Record<string, unknown> = {}) => {
     try {
       if (!accessToken) return;
       setIsTeamSaving(true);
@@ -1060,10 +1061,12 @@ const TeamInfoView: React.FC<TeamInfoProps> = ({
           ? { require_trace_id: values.require_trace_id === true }
           : storedRequireTraceIdMetadata;
 
+      // /team/update uses exclude_unset: omitted fields are preserved. Always
+      // sending models (often []) wipes direct grants on an unrelated save (#43845).
       const updateData: any = {
         team_id: teamId,
         team_alias: values.team_alias,
-        models: normalizeTeamModelSelection(values.models),
+        ...modelsFieldForTeamUpdate(dirtyFields.models, values.models),
         tpm_limit: numberOrNull(values.tpm_limit),
         rpm_limit: numberOrNull(values.rpm_limit),
         tpd_limit: numberOrNull(values.tpd_limit),
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.test.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.test.ts
index 5ca42a9391b..310a0cc6527 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.test.ts
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import {
   computeTeamModelBadges,
+  modelsFieldForTeamUpdate,
   normalizeTeamModelSelection,
   TeamAccessGroupModelGrant,
   teamPerModelLimitOptions,
@@ -90,6 +91,22 @@ describe("computeTeamModelBadges", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("modelsFieldForTeamUpdate", () => {
+  it("omits models when the field is not dirty", () => {
+    expect(modelsFieldForTeamUpdate(undefined, ["gpt-4.1"])).toEqual({});
+    expect(modelsFieldForTeamUpdate(false, ["gpt-4.1"])).toEqual({});
+    expect(modelsFieldForTeamUpdate([false, false], ["gpt-4.1"])).toEqual({});
+  });
+
+  it("includes normalized models when the field is dirty", () => {
+    expect(modelsFieldForTeamUpdate(true, ["gpt-4.1"])).toEqual({ models: ["gpt-4.1"] });
+    expect(modelsFieldForTeamUpdate(true, [])).toEqual({ models: ["no-default-models"] });
+    expect(modelsFieldForTeamUpdate([false, true], ["claude-sonnet-4"])).toEqual({
+      models: ["claude-sonnet-4"],
+    });
+  });
+});
+
 describe("teamPerModelLimitOptions", () => {
   const USER_MODELS = ["gpt-4o", "haiku", "openai/gpt-4o-mini", "openai/gpt-4.1"];
 
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.ts
index 3027fbb8686..93d6cf68c50 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.ts
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/team/teamModelAccess.ts
@@ -103,3 +103,19 @@ export function computeTeamModelBadges(
     ),
   ];
 }
+
+export function modelsFieldForTeamUpdate(
+  dirtyModels: unknown,
+  models: string[] | undefined,
+): { models: string[] } | Record<string, never> {
+  const isDirty =
+    dirtyModels === true ||
+    (Array.isArray(dirtyModels) && dirtyModels.some(Boolean)) ||
+    (dirtyModels !== null &&
+      typeof dirtyModels === "object" &&
+      Object.values(dirtyModels as Record<string, unknown>).some(Boolean));
+  if (!isDirty) {
+    return {};
+  }
+  return { models: normalizeTeamModelSelection(models) };
+}