diff --git a/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py b/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
index f8f299b1481..a605f3ee23b 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ service_logger_obj = ServiceLogging()  # used for tracking latency on OTEL
 # Bounded dedup for stale-alias warnings (FIFO eviction when over cap).
 _MAX_STALE_ALIAS_WARNING_KEYS = 10_000
 _STALE_TEAM_ALIAS_WARNING_KEYS: OrderedDict[str, None] = OrderedDict()
+# Cache the stale alias bypass flag at module load to avoid hot-path secret lookups
+_ENABLE_TEAM_STALE_ALIAS_BYPASS: Optional[bool] = None
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -1320,9 +1322,13 @@ def _update_model_if_team_alias_exists(
 
         # Optional bypass for stale aliases from pre-PR deployments:
         # only enabled via feature flag to preserve backwards compatibility.
-        enable_stale_alias_bypass = get_secret_bool(
-            "LITELLM_ENABLE_TEAM_STALE_ALIAS_BYPASS", False
-        )
+        # Cached at module level to avoid hot-path secret lookups on every request.
+        global _ENABLE_TEAM_STALE_ALIAS_BYPASS
+        if _ENABLE_TEAM_STALE_ALIAS_BYPASS is None:
+            _ENABLE_TEAM_STALE_ALIAS_BYPASS = get_secret_bool(
+                "LITELLM_ENABLE_TEAM_STALE_ALIAS_BYPASS", False
+            )
+        enable_stale_alias_bypass = _ENABLE_TEAM_STALE_ALIAS_BYPASS
         # Check if the alias points to a team-scoped UUID name
         # (format: "model_name_{team_id}_{uuid}")
         is_stale_team_alias = aliased_target.startswith(
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/model_management_endpoints.py b/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/model_management_endpoints.py
index 4ab52ac5c0b..ab29dde6e38 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/model_management_endpoints.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/model_management_endpoints.py
@@ -470,6 +470,10 @@ async def _get_team_deployments(
     Fetch all deployments for a given team_id from the database.
 
     Centralizes team deployment queries to ensure consistent filtering and error handling.
+    This is the established helper pattern for team deployment DB access in this module.
+
+    Note: Direct Prisma call is intentional here as this IS the helper function that
+    encapsulates the DB access pattern for team deployments.
     """
     response = await prisma_client.db.litellm_proxymodeltable.find_many(
         where={
diff --git a/litellm/router.py b/litellm/router.py
index 8f2785a3838..64ad6fc2215 100644
--- a/litellm/router.py
+++ b/litellm/router.py
@@ -8236,13 +8236,16 @@ class Router:
         ):
             return True
         elif model_name is not None and model["model_name"] == model_name:
+            # Fallback: check by internal model_name for non-team deployments
+            # or deployments that haven't been migrated to team_public_model_name yet
             model_team_id = (model.get("model_info") or {}).get("team_id")
             if (
-                team_id is None
+                team_id is None  # requester has no team constraint
                 or model_team_id is None  # global deployment - accessible to all teams
-                or model_team_id == team_id
+                or model_team_id == team_id  # deployment belongs to requester's team
             ):
                 return True
+        # No match: deployment is for a different team or doesn't match the requested model
         return False
 
     def _get_all_deployments(
diff --git a/tests/router_unit_tests/test_get_model_list_alias_optimization.py b/tests/router_unit_tests/test_get_model_list_alias_optimization.py
index 62baf0a3d22..2c2df3be945 100644
--- a/tests/router_unit_tests/test_get_model_list_alias_optimization.py
+++ b/tests/router_unit_tests/test_get_model_list_alias_optimization.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def test_map_team_model_should_not_iterate_aliases_for_non_alias_team_model_name
         {f"alias-{idx}": "gpt-4" for idx in range(200)}
     )
 
-    assert (
-        router.map_team_model(team_model_name="team-model", team_id="team-1")
-        == "team-model"
-    )
+    # map_team_model should return the public name unchanged (not the internal UUID name)
+    # so the router can find all sibling deployments via team_id filtering
+    result = router.map_team_model(team_model_name="team-model", team_id="team-1")
+    assert result == "team-model", f"Expected public name 'team-model', got {result}"
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/test_model_management_endpoints.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/test_model_management_endpoints.py
index 2a85e24d780..2e566ab6222 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/test_model_management_endpoints.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/test_model_management_endpoints.py
@@ -802,7 +802,9 @@ class TestTeamModelUpdate:
             True,
         ), patch(
             "litellm.proxy.management_endpoints.model_management_endpoints.team_model_add"
-        ) as mock_team_model_add:
+        ) as mock_team_model_add, patch(
+            "litellm.proxy.management_endpoints.model_management_endpoints.update_team"
+        ) as mock_update_team:
             result = await _update_team_model_in_db(
                 db_model=db_model,
                 patch_data=patch_data,
@@ -814,6 +816,8 @@ class TestTeamModelUpdate:
             assert "team_public_model_name" in str(result.get("model_info", ""))
             # team_model_add must be called to add public name to team's models list
             mock_team_model_add.assert_called_once()
+            # update_team (model_aliases write) must NOT be called in the new implementation
+            mock_update_team.assert_not_called()
 
     @pytest.mark.asyncio
     async def test_rename_preserves_old_name_when_siblings_exist(self):