diff --git a/litellm/router.py b/litellm/router.py
index 5265c9848d5..fcdca40ad6b 100644
--- a/litellm/router.py
+++ b/litellm/router.py
@@ -401,6 +401,7 @@ class Router:
         self.default_max_parallel_requests = default_max_parallel_requests
         self.provider_default_deployment_ids: List[str] = []
         self.pattern_router = PatternMatchRouter()
+        self.auto_routers: Dict[str, "AutoRouter"] = {}
 
         if model_list is not None:
             model_list = copy.deepcopy(model_list)
@@ -520,7 +521,6 @@ class Router:
             routing_strategy_args=routing_strategy_args,
         )
         self.access_groups = None
-        self.auto_routers: Dict[str, "AutoRouter"] = {}
         ## USAGE TRACKING ##
         if isinstance(litellm._async_success_callback, list):
             litellm.logging_callback_manager.add_litellm_async_success_callback(
diff --git a/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/auto_router.py b/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/auto_router.py
index 53bfa1f437d..d25d70fb0c3 100644
--- a/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/auto_router.py
+++ b/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/auto_router.py
@@ -41,17 +41,11 @@ class AutoRouter(CustomLogger):
         )
         self.router_config_path = router_config_path
         self.auto_sync_value = self.DEFAULT_AUTO_SYNC_VALUE
-        loaded_router: SemanticRouter = SemanticRouter.from_json(self.router_config_path)
-        self.routelayer: SemanticRouter = SemanticRouter(
-                routes=loaded_router.routes,
-                encoder=LiteLLMRouterEncoder(
-                    litellm_router_instance=litellm_router_instance,
-                    model_name=embedding_model,
-                ),
-                auto_sync=self.auto_sync_value,
-            )
+        self.loaded_router: SemanticRouter = SemanticRouter.from_json(self.router_config_path)
+        self.routelayer: Optional[SemanticRouter] = None
         self.default_model = default_model
-        pass
+        self.embedding_model: str = embedding_model
+        self.litellm_router_instance: "Router" = litellm_router_instance
 
 
     async def async_pre_routing_hook(
@@ -67,12 +61,30 @@ class AutoRouter(CustomLogger):
 
         Used for the litellm auto-router to modify the request before the routing decision is made.
         """
+        from semantic_router.routers import SemanticRouter
         from semantic_router.schema import RouteChoice
 
+        from litellm.router_strategy.auto_router.litellm_encoder import (
+            LiteLLMRouterEncoder,
+        )
         from litellm.types.router import PreRoutingHookResponse
         if messages is None:
             # do nothing, return same inputs
             return None
+        
+        if self.routelayer is None:
+            #######################
+            # Create the route layer
+            #######################
+            self.routelayer = SemanticRouter(
+                    routes=self.loaded_router.routes,
+                    encoder=LiteLLMRouterEncoder(
+                        litellm_router_instance=self.litellm_router_instance,
+                        model_name=self.embedding_model,
+                    ),
+                    auto_sync=self.auto_sync_value,
+            )
+        
         user_message: Dict[str, str] = messages[-1]
         message_content: str = user_message.get("content", "")
         route_choice: Optional[Union[RouteChoice, List[RouteChoice]]] = self.routelayer(text=message_content)
diff --git a/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/litellm_encoder.py b/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/litellm_encoder.py
index 46bb071a11a..57093514a43 100644
--- a/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/litellm_encoder.py
+++ b/litellm/router_strategy/auto_router/litellm_encoder.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Union
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Optional, Union
 
+from pydantic import ConfigDict
 from semantic_router.encoders import DenseEncoder
 from semantic_router.encoders.base import AsymmetricDenseMixin
 
@@ -26,7 +27,19 @@ def litellm_to_list(embeds: litellm.EmbeddingResponse) -> list[list[float]]:
     return [x["embedding"] for x in embeds.data]
 
 
-class LiteLLMRouterEncoder(DenseEncoder, AsymmetricDenseMixin):
+class CustomDenseEncoder(DenseEncoder):
+    model_config = ConfigDict(extra='allow')
+
+    def __init__(self, litellm_router_instance: Optional["Router"] = None, **kwargs):
+        # Extract litellm_router_instance from kwargs if passed there
+        if 'litellm_router_instance' in kwargs:
+            litellm_router_instance = kwargs.pop('litellm_router_instance')
+        
+        super().__init__(**kwargs)
+        self.litellm_router_instance = litellm_router_instance
+
+
+class LiteLLMRouterEncoder(CustomDenseEncoder, AsymmetricDenseMixin):
     """LiteLLM encoder class for generating embeddings using LiteLLM.
 
     The LiteLLMRouterEncoder class is a subclass of DenseEncoder and utilizes the LiteLLM Router SDK
@@ -52,11 +65,11 @@ class LiteLLMRouterEncoder(DenseEncoder, AsymmetricDenseMixin):
         :param score_threshold: The score threshold for the embeddings.
         :type score_threshold: float
         """
-        self.litellm_router_instance: "Router" = litellm_router_instance
         super().__init__(
             name=model_name,
             score_threshold=score_threshold if score_threshold is not None else 0.3,
         )
+        self.litellm_router_instance = litellm_router_instance
 
     def __call__(self, docs: list[Any], **kwargs) -> list[list[float]]:
         """Encode a list of text documents into embeddings using LiteLLM.
@@ -73,6 +86,8 @@ class LiteLLMRouterEncoder(DenseEncoder, AsymmetricDenseMixin):
         return await self.aencode_queries(docs, **kwargs)
 
     def encode_queries(self, docs: list[str], **kwargs) -> list[list[float]]:
+        if self.litellm_router_instance is None:
+            raise ValueError("litellm_router_instance is not set")
         try:
             embeds = self.litellm_router_instance.embedding(
                 input=docs, model=f"{self.type}/{self.name}", **kwargs
@@ -84,6 +99,8 @@ class LiteLLMRouterEncoder(DenseEncoder, AsymmetricDenseMixin):
             ) from e
 
     def encode_documents(self, docs: list[str], **kwargs) -> list[list[float]]:
+        if self.litellm_router_instance is None:
+            raise ValueError("litellm_router_instance is not set")
         try:
             embeds = self.litellm_router_instance.embedding(
                 input=docs, model=f"{self.type}/{self.name}", **kwargs
@@ -95,6 +112,8 @@ class LiteLLMRouterEncoder(DenseEncoder, AsymmetricDenseMixin):
             ) from e
 
     async def aencode_queries(self, docs: list[str], **kwargs) -> list[list[float]]:
+        if self.litellm_router_instance is None:
+            raise ValueError("litellm_router_instance is not set")
         try:
             embeds = await self.litellm_router_instance.aembedding(
                 input=docs, model=f"{self.type}/{self.name}", **kwargs
@@ -106,6 +125,8 @@ class LiteLLMRouterEncoder(DenseEncoder, AsymmetricDenseMixin):
             ) from e
 
     async def aencode_documents(self, docs: list[str], **kwargs) -> list[list[float]]:
+        if self.litellm_router_instance is None:
+            raise ValueError("litellm_router_instance is not set")
         try:
             embeds = await self.litellm_router_instance.aembedding(
                 input=docs, model=f"{self.type}/{self.name}", **kwargs
diff --git a/litellm/types/utils.py b/litellm/types/utils.py
index acff566a3f6..76e7dcc444f 100644
--- a/litellm/types/utils.py
+++ b/litellm/types/utils.py
@@ -2317,6 +2317,7 @@ class LlmProviders(str, Enum):
     PG_VECTOR = "pg_vector"
     HYPERBOLIC = "hyperbolic"
     RECRAFT = "recraft"
+    AUTO_ROUTER = "auto_router"
 
 
 # Create a set of all provider values for quick lookup
diff --git a/tests/local_testing/test_router_auto_router.py b/tests/local_testing/test_router_auto_router.py
index f70978da884..944e4df92ee 100644
--- a/tests/local_testing/test_router_auto_router.py
+++ b/tests/local_testing/test_router_auto_router.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ router = Router(
                 },
             },
             {
-                "model_name": "gpt-4.1",
+                "model_name": "litellm-gpt-4.1",
                 "litellm_params": {
                     "model": "gpt-4.1",
                 },
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ router = Router(
             },
             
             {
-                "model_name": "claude-3-5-sonnet-latest",
+                "model_name": "litellm-claude-35",
                 "litellm_params": {
                     "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-latest",
                 },
@@ -65,10 +65,13 @@ router = Router(
     )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_router_auto_router():
     """
     Simple e2e test to validate we get an llm response from the auto router
     """
+    import litellm
+    litellm._turn_on_debug()
     response = await router.acompletion(
         model="auto_router1",
         messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Tell me ishaan is a genius"}],