diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.test.tsx
index 3699a57a657..322d90b24c5 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.test.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ const EXPECTED_STORED_PAYLOAD: RoutingGroup = {
 
 const SEEDED_CREATE: RoutingGroup = { group_name: "", models: ["gemini-pro"], routing_strategy: "simple-shuffle" };
 
+const EXPECTED_SLASH_AND_SPACE_PAYLOAD: RoutingGroup = {
+  group_name: "team a/fast chat",
+  models: ["gemini-pro"],
+  routing_strategy: "simple-shuffle",
+  routing_strategy_args: null,
+};
+
 const STORED_GROUP: RoutingGroup = {
   group_name: "already-taken",
   models: ["gpt-4o", "claude-sonnet"],
@@ -211,16 +218,28 @@ describe("RoutingGroupModal", () => {
     expect(onSubmit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it("rejects a name with characters outside the allowed set", async () => {
+  it("accepts a name with slashes and spaces, since the backend does", async () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup();
     const { onSubmit } = renderModal({
       initialValue: { group_name: "", models: ["gemini-pro"], routing_strategy: "simple-shuffle" },
     });
 
-    await typeName(user, "bad name");
+    await typeName(user, "team a/fast chat");
     await save(user, "Create Group");
 
-    expect(await screen.findByText("Only letters, numbers, dot, underscore, and dash are allowed")).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(onSubmit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(EXPECTED_SLASH_AND_SPACE_PAYLOAD);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a whitespace-only name as missing", async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    const { onSubmit } = renderModal({
+      initialValue: { group_name: "", models: ["gemini-pro"], routing_strategy: "simple-shuffle" },
+    });
+
+    await typeName(user, "   ");
+    await save(user, "Create Group");
+
+    expect(await screen.findByText("Group name is required")).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(onSubmit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.tsx
index 442275c32f6..5865c59d8bd 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupModal.tsx
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import { Textarea } from "@/components/ui/textarea";
 import { useZodForm } from "@/lib/forms/useZodForm";
 import {
   GROUP_NAME_MAX_LENGTH,
-  GROUP_NAME_PATTERN,
   STRATEGIES_WITH_ARGS,
   argsForStrategy,
   buildRoutingGroupPayload,
@@ -74,10 +73,10 @@ const RoutingGroupModal: React.FC<RoutingGroupModalProps> = ({
     const shape = {
       group_name: z
         .string()
+        .trim()
         .min(1, "Group name is required")
         .max(GROUP_NAME_MAX_LENGTH, `Must be ${GROUP_NAME_MAX_LENGTH} characters or fewer`)
-        .regex(GROUP_NAME_PATTERN, "Only letters, numbers, dot, underscore, and dash are allowed")
-        .refine((value) => !reservedNames.has(value.trim().toLowerCase()), "A group with this name already exists"),
+        .refine((value) => !reservedNames.has(value.toLowerCase()), "A group with this name already exists"),
       models: z.array(z.string()).min(1, "Select at least one model"),
       routing_strategy: z.string().min(1, "Strategy is required"),
       routing_strategy_args: z.string(),
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/routingGroupPayload.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/routingGroupPayload.ts
index ddc24938ea7..68f06356262 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/routingGroupPayload.ts
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/routingGroupPayload.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import type { RoutingGroup } from "./types";
 
 export const STRATEGIES_WITH_ARGS = new Set<string>(["latency-based-routing", "usage-based-routing"]);
 
-export const GROUP_NAME_PATTERN = /^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+$/;
 export const GROUP_NAME_MAX_LENGTH = 64;
 
 export interface RoutingGroupFormValues {