diff --git a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/llm_http_handler.py b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/llm_http_handler.py
index 4891669ae3b..685d125b26c 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/llm_http_handler.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/llm_http_handler.py
@@ -188,13 +188,22 @@ class BaseLLMHTTPHandler:
             return None
         if isinstance(timeout, httpx.Timeout):
             return timeout
-        if isinstance(timeout, str):
-            if timeout.startswith("os.environ/"):
-                timeout = litellm.get_secret(timeout)  # type: ignore[assignment]
-                if timeout is None:
-                    return None
-            return float(timeout)
-        return float(timeout)
+
+        timeout_value: Any = timeout
+        if isinstance(timeout, str) and timeout.startswith("os.environ/"):
+            timeout_value = litellm.get_secret(timeout)
+            if timeout_value is None:
+                return None
+            if isinstance(timeout_value, httpx.Timeout):
+                return timeout_value
+
+        try:
+            return float(cast(Union[float, int, str], timeout_value))
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            verbose_logger.warning(
+                "Invalid Anthropic /v1/messages timeout value: %s", timeout_value
+            )
+            return None
 
     @staticmethod
     def _get_anthropic_messages_timeout(
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_llm_http_handler.py b/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_llm_http_handler.py
index b7734eb6f72..0ebb9d7905e 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_llm_http_handler.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/llms/custom_httpx/test_llm_http_handler.py
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ def test_fingerprint_agentic_tools_is_deterministic():
     "litellm_params,stream,expected_timeout",
     [
         (GenericLiteLLMParams(timeout=1.25), False, 1.25),
+        (GenericLiteLLMParams(timeout=1.25), True, 1.25),
         (GenericLiteLLMParams(timeout=30, stream_timeout=0.75), True, 0.75),
         (GenericLiteLLMParams(request_timeout=2.5), False, 2.5),
     ],
@@ -153,6 +154,25 @@ async def test_anthropic_messages_post_forwards_request_timeout(
     assert mock_client.post.call_args.kwargs["timeout"] == expected_timeout
 
 
+def test_coerce_http_timeout_reads_env_secret():
+    with patch("litellm.get_secret", return_value="3.5") as mock_get_secret:
+        result = BaseLLMHTTPHandler._coerce_http_timeout(
+            "os.environ/ANTHROPIC_MESSAGES_TIMEOUT"
+        )
+
+    assert result == 3.5
+    mock_get_secret.assert_called_once_with("os.environ/ANTHROPIC_MESSAGES_TIMEOUT")
+
+
+def test_coerce_http_timeout_returns_none_for_invalid_env_secret():
+    with patch("litellm.get_secret", return_value="not-a-number"):
+        result = BaseLLMHTTPHandler._coerce_http_timeout(
+            "os.environ/ANTHROPIC_MESSAGES_TIMEOUT"
+        )
+
+    assert result is None
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_async_anthropic_messages_handler_extra_headers():
     """