diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
index 83d682526db..5a0cfee5c95 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ def _request_tags_header(
     if not raw_headers:
         return None
     for key, value in raw_headers.items():
-        if isinstance(key, str) and key.lower() == "x-litellm-tags":
+        if key.lower() == "x-litellm-tags":
             return value or None
     return None