diff --git a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/realtime_streaming.py b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/realtime_streaming.py
index a44e6cff1f7..85799c729ad 100644
--- a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/realtime_streaming.py
+++ b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/realtime_streaming.py
@@ -899,9 +899,11 @@ class RealTimeStreaming:
                     ):
                         session = msg_obj.setdefault("session", {})
                         if isinstance(session, dict):
-                            session.setdefault("turn_detection", {})[
-                                "create_response"
-                            ] = False
+                            existing_td = session.get("turn_detection")
+                            if not isinstance(existing_td, dict):
+                                existing_td = {}
+                            existing_td["create_response"] = False
+                            session["turn_detection"] = existing_td
                             message = json.dumps(msg_obj)
                             self._guardrail_turn_detection_update_sent = True
                             verbose_logger.debug(
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils/test_realtime_streaming.py b/tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils/test_realtime_streaming.py
index c62ef6e23b0..68b31ae5bfa 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils/test_realtime_streaming.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils/test_realtime_streaming.py
@@ -1368,3 +1368,61 @@ async def test_guardrail_turn_detection_injected_into_first_session_update_defer
     assert injected_turn_detection is not None
     assert injected_turn_detection["create_response"] is False
     assert streaming._guardrail_turn_detection_update_sent is True
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("existing_turn_detection", [None, "auto", 42, ["server_vad"]])
+async def test_guardrail_turn_detection_injection_tolerates_non_dict_value(
+    existing_turn_detection,
+):
+    """Client-supplied non-dict turn_detection must not crash client_ack_messages."""
+    client_ws = AsyncMock()
+    client_ws.receive_text = AsyncMock(
+        side_effect=[
+            json.dumps({
+                "type": "session.update",
+                "session": {
+                    "modalities": ["text", "audio"],
+                    "turn_detection": existing_turn_detection,
+                },
+            }),
+            ConnectionClosed(None, None),
+        ]
+    )
+    backend_ws = MagicMock()
+    backend_ws.send = AsyncMock()
+
+    logging_obj = MagicMock()
+    logging_obj.litellm_trace_id = "trace_1"
+    logging_obj.async_success_handler = AsyncMock()
+    logging_obj.success_handler = MagicMock()
+
+    provider_config = MagicMock()
+    transformed_messages = []
+    def mock_transform(msg, model, session_config):
+        transformed_messages.append((msg, session_config))
+        return [msg]
+    provider_config.transform_realtime_request = MagicMock(side_effect=mock_transform)
+
+    streaming = RealTimeStreaming(
+        websocket=client_ws,
+        backend_ws=backend_ws,
+        logging_obj=logging_obj,
+        provider_config=provider_config,
+        model="gemini-2.5-flash",
+    )
+    streaming._has_audio_transcription_guardrails = MagicMock(return_value=True)  # type: ignore[method-assign]
+
+    await streaming.client_ack_messages()
+
+    assert len(transformed_messages) == 1
+    transformed_msg, _ = transformed_messages[0]
+    msg_obj = json.loads(transformed_msg)
+    session_obj = msg_obj["session"]
+    injected_turn_detection = (
+        session_obj.get("turn_detection")
+        or session_obj.get("audio", {}).get("input", {}).get("turn_detection")
+    )
+    assert isinstance(injected_turn_detection, dict)
+    assert injected_turn_detection["create_response"] is False
+    assert streaming._guardrail_turn_detection_update_sent is True