diff --git a/litellm/caching/caching.py b/litellm/caching/caching.py
index 5f5b8210096..357d78030d6 100644
--- a/litellm/caching/caching.py
+++ b/litellm/caching/caching.py
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ class Cache:
         Returns:
             str: The final hashed cache key with the redis namespace.
         """
-        dynamic_cache_control: Final[DynamicCacheControl] = kwargs.get("cache", {})
+        dynamic_cache_control: Final[DynamicCacheControl] = kwargs.get("cache") or {}
         metadata: Final = kwargs.get("metadata") or {}
         namespace: Final = dynamic_cache_control.get("namespace") or metadata.get("redis_namespace") or self.namespace
         if namespace:
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ class Cache:
                 else:
                     cache_key = self.get_cache_key(**kwargs)
                 if cache_key is not None:
-                    cache_control_args: Final[DynamicCacheControl] = kwargs.get("cache", {})
+                    cache_control_args: Final[DynamicCacheControl] = kwargs.get("cache") or {}
                     max_age = cache_control_args.get("s-maxage") or cache_control_args.get("s-max-age") or float("inf")
                     cache_lookup_kwargs: Final = self._get_safe_cache_lookup_kwargs(kwargs)
                     if dynamic_cache_object is not None:
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ class Cache:
                 else:
                     cache_key = self.get_cache_key(**kwargs)
                 if cache_key is not None:
-                    cache_control_args: Final = kwargs.get("cache", {})
+                    cache_control_args: Final = kwargs.get("cache") or {}
                     max_age: Final = cache_control_args.get(
                         "s-max-age", cache_control_args.get("s-maxage", float("inf"))
                     )
diff --git a/tests/unit/caching/test_cache_null_namespace.py b/tests/unit/caching/test_cache_null_namespace.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..be7ff885b65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/caching/test_cache_null_namespace.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+from typing import Final
+
+from litellm.caching.caching import Cache
+from litellm.types.caching import LiteLLMCacheType
+
+
+def test_explicit_null_cache_control_uses_cache_namespace():
+    cache: Final = Cache(type=LiteLLMCacheType.LOCAL, namespace="instance")
+    request: Final = {"model": "gpt-4o-mini", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}]}
+
+    default_key: Final = cache.get_cache_key(**request, metadata=None)
+    null_cache_key: Final = cache.get_cache_key(**request, metadata=None, cache=None)
+    request_namespace_key: Final = cache.get_cache_key(
+        **request,
+        metadata=None,
+        cache={"namespace": "request"},
+    )
+
+    assert null_cache_key == default_key
+    assert request_namespace_key.startswith("request:")
+    assert request_namespace_key != default_key
+
+
+def test_explicit_null_cache_control_allows_sync_cache_lookup():
+    cache: Final = Cache(type=LiteLLMCacheType.LOCAL)
+    request: Final = {"model": "gpt-4o-mini", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}]}
+
+    assert cache.get_cache(**request, cache=None) is None
+
+
+async def test_explicit_null_cache_control_allows_async_cache_lookup():
+    cache: Final = Cache(type=LiteLLMCacheType.LOCAL)
+    request: Final = {"model": "gpt-4o-mini", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}]}
+
+    assert await cache.async_get_cache(**request, cache=None) is None