diff --git a/litellm/proxy/common_utils/sse_keepalive.py b/litellm/proxy/common_utils/sse_keepalive.py
index 3ea17b7b1e8..e6d5da03a71 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/common_utils/sse_keepalive.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/common_utils/sse_keepalive.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import asyncio
 import contextlib
+import math
 from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator
 from typing import Final
 
@@ -8,13 +9,26 @@ import anyio
 ANTHROPIC_PING_SSE_CHUNK: Final = 'event: ping\ndata: {"type": "ping"}\n\n'
 
 
+def _coerce_interval(ping_interval_seconds: float | str | None) -> float | None:
+    if ping_interval_seconds is None:
+        return None
+    try:
+        interval: Final = float(ping_interval_seconds)
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+    if not math.isfinite(interval) or interval <= 0:
+        return None
+    return interval
+
+
 def wrap_sse_stream_with_keepalive_pings(
     stream: AsyncGenerator[str, None],
-    ping_interval_seconds: float,
+    ping_interval_seconds: float | str | None,
 ) -> AsyncGenerator[str, None]:
-    if ping_interval_seconds <= 0:
+    interval: Final = _coerce_interval(ping_interval_seconds)
+    if interval is None:
         return stream
-    return _keepalive_ping_stream(stream=stream, ping_interval_seconds=ping_interval_seconds)
+    return _keepalive_ping_stream(stream=stream, ping_interval_seconds=interval)
 
 
 async def _keepalive_ping_stream(
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_sse_keepalive.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_sse_keepalive.py
index bc6f4060163..6e98248dd18 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_sse_keepalive.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_sse_keepalive.py
@@ -104,6 +104,30 @@ async def test_non_positive_interval_returns_stream_unwrapped():
     await stream.aclose()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("bad_interval", [None, "abc", "", float("inf"), float("nan"), "-3"])
+async def test_invalid_config_interval_returns_stream_unwrapped(bad_interval: float | str | None):
+    async def any_stream() -> AsyncGenerator[str, None]:
+        yield MESSAGE_START_CHUNK
+
+    stream: Final = any_stream()
+    assert wrap_sse_stream_with_keepalive_pings(stream=stream, ping_interval_seconds=bad_interval) is stream
+    await stream.aclose()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_numeric_string_interval_from_yaml_config_enables_pings():
+    async def slow_start_stream() -> AsyncGenerator[str, None]:
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.2)
+        yield MESSAGE_START_CHUNK
+
+    wrapped: Final = wrap_sse_stream_with_keepalive_pings(stream=slow_start_stream(), ping_interval_seconds="0.05")
+    collected: Final = [chunk async for chunk in wrapped]
+
+    assert collected[0] == ANTHROPIC_PING_SSE_CHUNK
+    assert collected[-1] == MESSAGE_START_CHUNK
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_create_response_streams_ping_first_for_slow_upstream():
     async def slow_start_stream() -> AsyncGenerator[str, None]: